


Dalmatian Street After Dark: New Experiences and New Arrivals

by HornyDalmatian, wizard0209



Series: the Dalmatian Street After Dark universe [4]
Category: 101 Dalmatian Street (Cartoon)
Genre: BDSM, Dante making poor decisions, Family Drama, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Impregnation, Multi, Sibling Incest, mature themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:13:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 90,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26451664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HornyDalmatian/pseuds/HornyDalmatian, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wizard0209/pseuds/wizard0209
Summary: A few years after the events of After Dark, the family has begun taking new steps in life. New challenges and new interests will arise as the Dalmatians navigate their lives, with new arrivals making things even more complicated.We decided to revisit this universe with a time skip and go ahead and start a bit of a sequel for it, technically those three were one story so this is technically the second one. Why I made this confusing I have no idea, anyway so this will be a new series of RPs based in that story's universe.RPers are: HornyDalmatian, wizard0209
Relationships: Dante/Delgado (101 Dalmatians), Dawkins/Dimitri 2 (101 Dalmatians), Destiny/Dimitri 1 (101 Dalmatians), Dimitri 3/Dora (101 Dalmatians)
Series: the Dalmatian Street After Dark universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685380
Comments: 65
Kudos: 56





	1. Unexpected Guests

Dante read over the letter and looked at the pups in front of him, the three blinking at him and looking just as confused as he was. They were a bit young, and Dante thought back how they could possibly be his.

He tried to remember and then recognized the name on the letter, it had been a bit since Dante and Delgado moved out of their family's house and if he read the letter correctly they would have been born a little after Delgado's tournament. Dante's mind quickly went into panic mode and started to feel himself sweat as the hairs on his back stood up.

"Dante? Who was at the door?" Delgado called out to Dante. His voice was getting louder as he talked letting Dante know he was heading his way.

'Oh dog, Delgado is fixing to murder me and Dora will help and Delilah too and... I knew dog years were short but not this short' Dante said as he thought up a response quickly hiding the letter in a nearby drawer.

"Just some lost pups, I couldn't let them stay outside in the cold... Trying to find where they're from so I can send them back..." Dante let out immediately and mentally kicked himself as soon as he said that, knowing that was going to make it worse.

Delgado turned the corner and saw Dante and the pups and said "Aw~ let's get them inside and feed if they're hungry" and with that, he walked up to Dante and nuzzled him before he went to get a good look at them.

The pups looked very familiar, a mixture of black and white spots, and definitely had some Dalmatian in them even if it was obvious they were mixed.

"Well, actually our mom was in town looking for our father as she needed him to take care of us and we just followed the address on the letter to here. She may be by later," one of the pups said and blinked, not really sure what was going on. Dante nuzzled Delgado back and just tried his best not to look like he was about to have a panic attack.

After getting a good look at them and having the pup talk for a bit Delgado's face took on a much more stern expression and said "what letter?" The question wasn't addressed to anyone in particular, but Dante knew all too well from his tone that it better be answered quickly.

Dante wasn't willing to dig himself any deeper, as he shook he opened the drawer and handed Delgado the letter.

The letter read 'Dear Dante Dalmatian, I know it has been years since we talked and if you recall you and Delgado became really close to me at that tournament. You two even let me know the 'unorthodox' nature of your relationship, and well Delgado allowed me and you to spend a night together. Well, turns out I was in heat, and by the time I found out I was pregnant you had left town. Since then I searched for you around London and only recently discovered your new address. Sincerely, Joan Terrier.'

The pups waited and just looked at the two, feeling very confused. Dante gulped a bit and would've made a run for it but Delgado could outrun Dolly on her best day and even with a head start Dante would lose that race quickly.

Delgado was clearly very mad by the look on his face but he didn't want to yell in front of the kids and as calmly as he could he said: "why don't I show you kids to your room... Dante, wait for me in our room where they can't hear us..."

Dante didn't argue as Delgado showed the kids to an available room, he made the long walk to his and Delgado's room. Dante was trying to remember, he could've sworn he asked Joan if he could knot her and she'd agreed. He and Delgado hadn't really talked about kids at all, though now it was a bit late to have second thoughts.

Delgado led the kids along and knew it was only a matter of time before they asked about what he was doing living with their 'father' and was trying to think of the best way to answer that as they came up on their spare room.

"So, what's going? Are you his roommate?" A male pup asked, not having the slightest idea of what was going on. "By the way, I'm Tina and that's Terrence and Tony," the female said as she introduced herself.

"Not exactly Tony... you see I'm your father's husband, which I guess makes me your dad as well," Delgado said telling only half the story for now "and thank you Tina for introducing me to all of you, you can call me dad or Delgado, either is fine".

"Alright, mom told us to wait until she could talk with you two but we really just wanted to finally meet our dad," Terrence said excitedly, though he noticed Delgado seemed to be trying his best to keep his cool right now.

Delgado nodded at that and they were at the room and he opened the door for the three of them and said "we only have one spare room right now so you'll have to share, I'll be back in a bit with kibble and water bowls if you need them, I need to have a word with your other dad right now".

"Alright, thank you, Delgado," Tina said as she talked with her brothers as Delgado left. Dante was trying to keep himself from hyperventilating as he waited for Delgado to arrive, he knew if he wanted to still be allowed to sleep in the house he'd better take whatever Delgado threw at him.

Delgado made his way to their room quickly and thought over everything he wanted to say and stepped in and said "first of all, I know you knew better than that Dante".

"I asked and she said it was fine, we had an open relationship at the time and knew her for a bit. I even asked for your okay beforehand. I thought she was safe and I just didn't think to check, I went with her word and I'm sorry I didn't shove my nose in there to check," Dante said sounding almost defensive about it, trying to remember all the events that led up to that night.

Delgado sighed and said: "I don't understand how she didn't notice that she was in heat... from what our sisters have said that's not just something that slips by... this isn't how I saw us having kids at all..." Delgado was frustrated and wanted to yell at Dante some more but Delgado knew he had some good points there and couldn't think of a rebuttal.

"Me neither, Del... That's the thing too, that's not something you just forget about and it could've been her in the heat of the moment that pun is not intended... She was a sweet girl from what I remember, but do you think she lied so she could get pregnant?" Dante suggested as a possible explanation, knowing he'd just have to wait and hear her side of the story.

"Could be... the pups mentioned that she wanted to bring them here herself but they were a bit too excited to meet you as it turns out so she might be here soon..." Delgado said not sure what to think at the moment.

"I guess we'll just see what she has to say..." Dante said and just shook his head, he knew they'd both be a bit more excited about the pups if things had been done in a more careful manner. As they stood there both really not in the best of moods, they heard the doorbell ring.

"That must be her" Delgado said and picked himself up "come on, let's at least hear her side of things".

Dante took a deep breath, trying to keep calm as he walked to the door and answered it. "Hello, are my kids here?" The female Terrier at the door asked and looked up at Dante who let her in and nodded.

"Tina Terrence and Tony? yeah, they're here, they also gave us a note clearly written by you" Delgado said not even looking at her with a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry this was short noticed, I was about to call before I noticed the pups snuck out. I plan on explaining things, so let's sit down," Joan said as Dante showed her the living room, taking a seat knowing they were both extremely upset right now.

"Alright, so I guess I'll start... Why didn't you tell me back then you were in heat, the two of us have enough sisters to know that it doesn't just sneak up on you?" Dante said as he tried to be calm, though it was obvious he was starting to get angry himself as he waited for Joan to explain.

Delgado sat next to Dante and nuzzled him as they waited for Joan to explain. He was trying to calm him down but Delgado wasn't much better in all honesty.

"I gave you the okay to knot me, more or less due to giving in to my instincts. I wish there was a better reason and I fully intended on telling you what happened but by the time I came to my senses you two had returned home. For the most part, things went okay, luckily I had people to help me along and I made sure everyone knew you didn't knock me up just to leave and that you had no idea. I'm sure you would've done something if you had known," Joan explained and looked like she expected Dante to yell at her.

"You're damn right I would've! I... I always believed if I ended up having kids... I wanted to be there for them... Watch them grow up... I'm just..." Dante let out as he felt like he was about to break down from this revelation. His emotions confused as he tried to process the events in his head.

Delgado just wrapped his arms around Dante and hugged him tightly, not sure what to say at this point, and just wanted to hold his husband for now.

"I'm going to take the kids home... Let you two cool off and then we'll talk..." Joan said getting up and not wanting to make too big a scene. "Yeah... Just... We need some time right now..." Dante said and knew he didn't have to explain to Delgado why this was getting him so worked up.

Delgado sighed and said: "feel free to get them something to eat from our kitchen on your way out, I did promise them some food before you showed up".

"Alright, thank you..." Joan said as she got the kids and went ahead to get them something to eat and some water before they left. The pups were silent as they saw the adult dogs looking like they had just got done arguing. Dante remained silent as they got the food and left, Joan making sure the food was in a disposable container before leading the pups out.

Delgado sighed and nuzzled Dante and said "what are we going to do, love?"

"I'm going to call mom... I know she's going to be furious with me, but maybe she can help us figure something out..." Dante said and nuzzled Delgado back, not really sure what to do. There was no questioning it and he saw it with his own eyes, those pups were very much his. They looked too similar to him for any doubt, and Dante wasn't sure how to put what he felt into words.

"Alright Dante, I'll let you go do that, I need to lay down and mentally reset for a while," Delgado said getting up and kissed Dante on his cheek before he walked towards their bedroom.

"I'm sorry, Del..." Dante muttered and sighed as he got up to call Delilah, sure she was going to want a long talk with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dante demands a paternity test, but it's a little hard to argue when the little rascals look like you XD


	2. Heart Break and Receiving the News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dora finds out something upsetting, and before she knows it Delilah calls to on Dante's behalf

Dora sat on her bed and looked over the results of a recent physical, she took a deep breath and just waited for D3 to get back. Dora was healthy but according to the paper in her hands, the doctor had found out something that completely broke her heart.

D3 came home and went to find Dora and called out "Dora? I'm home, where are you?"

"In our room, love... I'm looking over my test results from the doctor..." Dora called out trying her best not to sound upset, not wanting to worry him too badly. Dora was upset, but she was looking at the bright side that everything else in the report looked great.

D3 came in and sat next to her and gave her a nuzzle before he said "something wrong love? you know I can tell when something is really bugging you, I know you way too well..."

"I know... I love you," Dora said and nuzzled him back before taking a deep breath. "So, everything looks great and I'm perfectly healthy... But, according to this... Pups aren't very likely unless we adopt..." Dora said and leaned against him, not sure if that was for the best or not. She didn't hide how much that hurt, sure she didn't have to have pups the traditional way but it just felt like the option was taken away from her.

D3 wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close. He knew how much at least being _able_ to maybe have kids of their own that way meant to her and knew exactly how much this hurts her so he was going to do his best to comfort her here.

Dora just cried into Dimitri's chest, just wanting to let it out. "Everything else was fine... But, it just had to be that one thing..." Dora said and hugged D3 tight, just wanting to be with him as she cried. "Well... I guess we don't have to worry about birth defects this way..." Dora said and sniffled, just letting her emotions out right now.

"I'm sorry Dora... I know how much this meant to you... I was a week away from calling Dawkins to see if he could do something about birth defects and whatnot and try and surprise you with it later on" D3 said, holding Dora tightly and started stroking her fur.

Dora just cried harder at that, she hadn't really brought it up but felt like they'd settle in enough to at least consider the option of having kids. "I guess it can't be helped... I just want to lay down now... Can we just cuddle for a bit?" Dora said as she moved around to lay down so they could cuddle.

"sure thing Dora," D3 said laying down with her and cuddled up to her without a second thought.

Dora began to calm down as they cuddled, before hearing the phone ring and picked it up. Delilah was calling her and she figured it would be best to see what her mom wanted.

"Hello, mom?" Dora said as she answered, still sniffling a bit. "Hello dear, Dante asked me to talk with you. Is everything okay?" Delilah's voice asked as soon as she heard Dora speak.

"I'll be alright, mom. Do you mind talking with D3?" Dora asked as she didn't want her mother to worry too much. "Alright, call me if you need me, sweetie," Delilah said and once Dora said goodbye she handed the phone to D3.

"Hey, mom what's going on?" D3 asked as soon as he put the phone up to his ear wondering what this was about.

"Alright, pass this along to Dora but apparently Dante had a bit of a shock today and I'm more than a bit angry with him. A few years back he got close to a girl and Delgado felt he'd be careful, well today he found out that he got three illegitimate children from that. So, Delgado is more than a bit upset with him... Though, to be fair it seems Dante didn't know for sure she was in heat at the time..." Delilah said and did her best to explain to him. Dora stayed silent as she felt herself calming down.

D3 sighed and thought that over before he said "Dora isn't going to like hearing this but I'll tell after a while when she's calmed down, I'd tell you what's going on here but I think she'll want to tell you herself mom".

"Go ahead and let her know, and tell her I'll talk with her soon," Dora said to D3 and gave him a kiss, feeling like she'd gotten most of it out of her system.

"Alright, if you say so D3, I know Dora is going to have a few choice words for Dante on this one," Delilah said and sighed, obviously trying not to let her frustration with Dante out too much.

"Dora just gave me the okay to say it, mom, she just got some results back from the doctors, she's healthy for the most part but... it seems she's infertile..." D3 said and thought everything over.

"Oh dear, tell her to talk with me once she calms down and it might be a good idea not to say what happened with Dante until she calms down from that news. It's going to be a little rough trying to adjust with all this, but Dante's already said he will make sure they're his and will try to salvage what he can from this," Delilah said as she got ready to hang up.

"Alright mom will do, love you and goodbye," D3 said and couldn't help but agree with her with all of that.

Once D3 hung up Dora nuzzled his neck, feeling calm enough to talk with him. "So, what did mom want to say?" Dora asked, wanting to go ahead and hear it.

"Dante didn't realize a girl that Delgado let him have some fun with was in heat and now he has illegitimate children from it," D3 said after he made one hundred percent sure she was okay to hear it.

Dora stared at D3 and blinked, silent as it looked like her brain was processing that information. It just seemed like she stared at him absentmindedly forever, she didn't say anything for a good minute. It was like she was waiting for a punchline to what D3 said.

D3 quickly got up and ran to the other side of the room knowing Dora was about to explode with anger and said "it's not a joke love, as much as I wish it was..."

"What the hell, Dante?! Gaah, why can't he just use his head! No, you did it just happened to be the wrong one!" Dora growled as she started punching a defenseless pillow, getting her anger and frustration out.

"Gah! He couldn't at least make one hundred percent sure she was safe..." Dora just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Well, at least one of us is able to have puppies I guess..." Dora said, still very frustrated about the recent developments she got today.

D3 kept his distance for now until she calmed down a bit more, not sure what to say that wouldn't just make things worse.

"Alright, Dimitri... I'm not mad at you as you haven't done anything wrong... Just very upset with Dante right now..." Dora said as she took a deep breath, letting D3 know her outburst was over.

D3 let out a sigh of relief and laid back down with her and said "I know Dora, I just didn't want to be in that pillow’s place is all, love you".

"I know, D3. I love you too, and the pillow might be traumatized but it should be fine..." Dora said and tried to make a joke to lighten the mood.

"For a guy with a boyfriend, he seems to have a hard time resisting cookies..." Dora said with a sigh as she kissed D3, obviously a little disappointed in Dante.

D3 chuckled a bit at that and kissed Dora back before he said "he sure does, and Dora I know they haven't been married long but we were at the wedding" D3 was teasing her a bit before he continued with "mom didn't say what they were going to do just yet, I guess they're still figuring that out".

"Yeah, I know I know... Still getting used to saying husband, and I was technically Dante's 'best man' just not as manly as one normally is~" Dora said with a giggle as she hugged D3.

D3 chuckled at that and hugged her back and closed his eyes and said "I love you so much Dora~ you never fail to make me smile~".

"I love you too, D3~ You're always there for me and I was in the mood for some fun earlier~ But, life happens sometimes I guess~," Dora said and closed her eyes, nuzzling his chest.

D3 smiled at that and wrapped his arms around her and said "I'm going to try and get some sleep, I suggest you do that same love~".

Dora nodded and gave him a kiss, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head on his chest. She knew D3 was right, if Dora got some sleep she knew it would definitely help improve her mood.

D3 kissed her back and tried to relax and slowly he fell asleep.

Dora was soon asleep as well, letting herself relax and feeling safe in D3's embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End abuse to pillows everywhere now! Dial 1-800- lamejoke


	3. Country Roads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dimitri 1 and Destiny have settled in well, enjoying just being with their family. It isn't long before Delilah calls to update them on the recent events.

Dimitri 1 was enjoying the sun as laid in the grass, car horns blaring replaced with birds chirping and smog replaced with Clouds. Yet he couldn't help missing it, he remembered how he always dreamed of getting away from London and at the same time he missed it. He'd gotten a pretty decent following from his novels and it made him smile that he could just relax.

Destiny was sitting nearby keeping an eye on their kids as they ran around and played with each other. She was missing London a bit as well but not as much as D1 was. She was glad that she had quit being an actress when she did as it was becoming a bit much and she was enjoying their quiet life out in the county.

Dimitri smiled as he watched his kids play and Destiny watching them, Destiny did have to push him to get on to them at first. He was worried about going too far, but overall he felt they did a good job taking care of them.

"This is nice dear~ after everything, I'm glad we decided to move here, mom was nice to sell us this place, I think she said this farm has been owned by our family for several generations," Destiny said taking in a deep breath smiling at him.

"Yeah, it's definitely plenty of room for plenty of kids~" D1 teased as he got up and sat next to Destiny giving her a kiss. "I'm surprised Mom didn't have us move here in the first place, would've been less cramped~ But, I can't complain too much~," Dimitri said as he watched their six kids play.

Destiny giggled and kissed him back before she said "yeah it would have been nice growing up here but that would have been a long drive to do every day what with my line of work back then~".

"I suppose so~ I do miss seeing my brothers every day though," D1 said as he happily noticed one of his sons cuddling up to his sister and taking a nap.

Destiny saw what caught D1 eyes and said "Aw~ look at them~ aren't they so cute like that~".

"Yep, and to think those two were arguing about a toy this morning~," Dimitri said and chuckled, just seeing his pups enjoying themselves warmed his heart.

Destiny giggled at that as she remembered that and leaned against D1 and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Remember we will be visiting mom soon, I'm sure she'll be happy to see her grandkids," D1 said and closed his eyes, nuzzling Destiny as he let himself relax with her.

"I know, and I'm sure she will too, the kids will be happy to see her too, you know how she spoils them," Destiny said with a giggle and let herself relax.

"Yep, she definitely does~ I asked her to stop once and she said it was her revenge we both had a good laugh at that~ Still hard to believe any of this is real sometimes~," Dimitri said and gave Destiny a kiss.

Destiny giggled again and kissed him back before she said "I know what you mean love~ I still expect to wake up back at our parents' place and find out we were never together in the first place".

"Yeah, the two of us have changed a lot that's for sure~," Dimitri said and about that time he heard the phone ring.

"Oh that's my phone, I better answer it, it might be mom checking in," Destiny said as she went to do just that.

"Alright, tell her I said hi," Dimitri told her as she left, going back to watch the pups while Destiny answered the phone.

Destiny looked at the collar ID and saw that it was in fact their mother and quickly answered the phone and said "Hey mom, what's up?"

"Hello, dear. Just calling to check up on you and just wanted to see if there was anything you needed me to get before you and the family visit again," Delilah told her in a sweet motherly tone.

"We're doing good mom, and I've already told you we'll bring everything the kids need ourselves," Destiny said knowing she was just looking out for them but Destiny didn't want her to buy anything when she knew she could get it herself.

"Alright, alright if you say so dear, you know I'm always a phone call away. Anyway, how are you and D1 doing? Thinking of any more pups?" Delilah said with a giggle and decided to tease her daughter a bit.

Destiny laughed and said: "We're doing alright mom, we haven't talked about it yet but we might have more actually, we have more than enough room for them out here and it's not like we can't afford them, we'll see though".

"Hehe, no rush and there is something I should let D1 know. I'll let you know too for obvious reasons," Delilah said and cleared her throat, not sure how Destiny would react.

"Oh? what is it, mom?" Destiny asked knowing when her mother had something important to say.

"Alright, so the jist is Delgado let Dante have a night with a girl a while back and Dante wasn't as careful as he should've been. So, Dante has some illegitimate children that he only just now found out about," Delilah explained as best she could.

Destiny growled a bit and said "for fuck sake Dante... I'll let D1 know after we put the kids to bed tonight so they can't hear, thanks for letting us know mom".

"Alright, sweetie that's a good idea. Won't be long before word gets out though, anyway I also think you should talk with Dora soon. I know you two really hit it off so to speak, and she's recently got some news that hurt her a bit," Delilah shared as well, figuring Dora would appreciate a call from Destiny.

"Oh alright, I'll call her right after I'm done talking with you mom, thanks for letting me know," Destiny said a bit surprised to hear that and wondered what this was about but had a feeling it was better she asked Dora.

"Alright very well, anyway glad you two are doing well. Can't wait to see you all again," Delilah said as she got ready to hang up, feeling that covered everything.

"Thanks, mom, we can't wait to see you again either, love you goodbye," Destiny said and hung up as well and dialed Dora.

"Love you too, bye," Delilah as soon as she hung up and began dialing Dora. "Hello, Destiny," Dora answered in the voice she always used when she was trying to be polite despite a sour mood.

"Hey Dora, I just got off the phone with mom, she told me you got some bad news?" Destiny said just getting to the point while still sounding concerned.

"Yeah, I found out recently that I'm infertile... I think I got most of it out as well as my frustration with Dante's recent news... But, yeah it just feels like I had the option taken away from me, but I guess we can still adopt and I can still be the cool aunt," Dora said and giggled a bit, it was obvious she had been upset but was starting to move on.

"I'm glad you're starting to be okay Dora, I know how much that meant to you," Destiny said giggling a bit as well just happy that Dora was alright for the most part.

"Yes, well D3 helped a bit with that~ I'll spare you the details but he definitely knows how to treat his lady~," Dora said and giggled a bit more, leaving Destiny to connect the dots with that.

"I bet he does~ anyways I just wanted to check up on you real quick, I should get going, I'll see you in a few days when we all go visit mom and dad," Destiny said getting ready to hang up.

"Alright, thanks and can't wait. Hug D1 and give the kids a kiss for me bye," Dora said as she got ready to hang up as well. "Hey, hey careful with the biting. Come on, don't beat up your poor defenseless dad," D1 said as he walked to the house and wiped his paws before entering, making sure the pups wiped their paws as well.

Destiny hung up the phone and giggled at what she was seeing before she walked up to D1 and said "having trouble love?"

"Well, maybe a little help. The little rascals think I'm a jungle gym," D1 said with a chuckle as he had pups on his back and pups trying to climb on his back.

Destiny giggled and said "now kids leave your father alone, it's almost time for dinner" she knew that was a trigger word for them just as much as it was for her younger siblings back in the day but with just six of them D1 was unlikely to get swept away with them.

Dimitri laughed as he watched the pups run to the kitchen, admitting remembering the first time he had dinner with the Dalmatian family and was caught in the puppy swarm. "So what did mom want, love?~" D1 asked, curious about the call.

"She was checking on us like I thought she was, although she did let me know some things, I'll tell you after we get the kids to go to sleep later though," Destiny said as they walked inside and made their way to the kitchen themselves.

"Alright, I take it these are adult things that kids shouldn't be hearing," Dimitri 1 said as they made their way to the kitchen, fairly quick on the uptake for a change. He went ahead and got the bowls out for the pups as well as Destiny's and his own, having made it a point to help Destiny whenever she needed.

They all got to eating and Destiny just wanted to enjoy their meal in silence for now.

Dimitri 1 ate in silence, noting it had to be serious with how quiet Destiny was being. He was a little worried but tried not to work himself up. The pups would look at Destiny and D1 curiously every now and again, and then whispering to each other.

"Sorry I just have a lot on my mind everyone, please don't worry too much," Destiny said, breaking the silence and trying to calm their kids down a bit before they got really worried.

"Yeah, just eat up and we'll watch a movie before bed or something," Dimitri 1 added and stroked his wife's back as he got back to eating. The kids nodded at that and smiled, went back to eating.

Destiny got back to eating as well and was glad that had worked as well as it did.

It wasn't long before they had all finished eating, D1 led the pups to the living room for them to watch a movie as promised. He just had to find an appropriate one that was long enough to put the pups to sleep.

Destiny sat down next to D1 and let him pick the movie. She was sure he could find a good one.

Dimitri 1 nuzzled once they found an old movie that would be perfect for them and hit play. He watched the pups as they watched the movie and D1 wrapped an arm around Destiny, he always felt a bit teary-eyed when he looked at his family enjoying themselves.

Destiny nuzzled him back and leaned her head on his chest as they all watched and smiled.

He just enjoyed the moment in silence as he watched the pups nod off to sleep, there was a lot they had left out for their kids as it was either they didn't need to know or were too young to know. Dimitri 1 did wonder at times how his children would view if they knew some of the things he'd gotten up to in the past, even if that D1 seemed to have died a long time ago.

Destiny sometimes wondered what their kids would think of her if they knew about some of the things she ended up doing with D1 but tried to push those thoughts aside and said "come on love, let's get them to their rooms" and with that Destiny picked up the closest pup and put them on her back.

D1 shook himself out of it as he got up to take the pups to their rooms, nodding as he turned the tv off. "Alright, let's get them to bed," D1 said and carefully carried them to their rooms, it took a little time but finally he got to the last one who stirred a little which made D1 concerned.

Once they laid everyone down in their bed's Destiny motioned for them to head to their room.

D1 laid the final pup in its room and went ahead to follow Destiny. "He's gonna be upset we didn't let him sleep in Missy's room tonight," D1 said and chuckled as he entered the room, before taking a deep breath as he realized what Destiny had to tell was going to be a big deal.

Destiny laid down on their bed and took a deep breath before she said "okay two things first Dante has illegitimate children from a girl Delgado let him have fun with a while back".

"Wait what?" D1 said and tried not to be loud as he started to fall backwards, catching himself and going over to lay down before the next bombshell. "Did I just hear that right? Come on, Dante... Dude, at least I can pu... Well, accidents happen but I know he's smarter than that..." D1 said with a sigh as he rubbed his forehead, just the thought that Dante managed to screw up like that nearly broke his brain.

"Yeah, he's supposed to be smarter than that..." Destiny said and gave D1 and minute to wrap his brain around that before she continued with "and Dora is infertile... I don't think I have to remind you how much that meant to her about maybe having kids of her own..."

"Oh, yikes... Yeah, that and Dante combined I bet she isn't in the best of moods right now..." D1 said as he took a deep breath and definitely felt sorry for his sister. "I know she was really excited about being a mother, which sucks cause I think she'd be an excellent mother and I'm not just saying that because of who she is to me," D1 said as he thought about it.

"Yeah, I think so too D1, although mom told me to call her myself and let her tell me that and while she was talking she seemed to be doing a bit better, she was even joking around a bit which is relieving," Destiny said thinking everything over.

"That's good, and I'm sure D3 helped out as best he could. I know them both well enough and Dora wouldn't even have given him the time of day if he didn't treat her right," D1 said with a chuckle as he thought it all over. "It might be rough, but Dante will make the right decision. He doesn't have much choice if I'm honest," D1 said he pulled Destiny close to him.

"Yeah you're right on both those things, let's get some sleep love" Destiny said and closed her as she leaned against him.

"Of course, love~," D1 said and closed his eyes, not really there was anything else to say as he fell asleep.

Destiny wasn't far behind him and was fast asleep as she wondered how this family meetup was going to go in a few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far we have drama, drama, wholesome. I'm sure we'll get to lewd later


	4. Down Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawkins and Dimitri 2 decide it's time to relax a bit.

Dawkins was happily tinkering with a new gadget, he'd had an idea on making a translation device which could convert Dog speak to human speak. "This will make things so much easier, as long as it works..." Dawkins said to himself, feeling like he was getting closer to figuring it out.

D2 was sitting nearby watching Dawkins's work and said "I'm sure you'll figure it out sooner or later Dawsy~ I can only imagine how revolutionary this invention is going to be once you get it working love".

"I'm sure it'll be interesting to see~ Wonder how everyone will react once we get this working properly~," Dawkins said and gave D2 a kiss, figuring they'd take a break soon.

D2 kissed him back and said: "it'll be something else either way~ come on you've been working on this long enough~ let's take a break~".

"Very well, love~ I think I'm ready to get up for now anyway~," Dawkins said as he stood up and stretched, wondering what he and his boyfriend should get up to today.

D2 got up as well and said "hey Dawsy after the family meetup in a few days do you think we can go out to the beach for the weekend? it's been a while since we went and think it'll be fun~".

"That sounds like fun~ I guess you just want it to be the two of us~ You know Missy will be excited to hear what we've been working on lately," Dawkins said and thought the beach sounded but was a bit clueless as to why D2 wanted just the two of them specifically.

D2 giggled a bit and said "yeah just the two of us~ let's just say I want it to be special for us, something we'll never forget~" D2 wondered if he had said too much there. They had talked about getting married plenty by now and Dawkins had always been very smart, it's one of the things he learned to love about him after all so he was a bit worried that he might put two and two together.

"I do always enjoy it when it's just the two of us~ It's always special when we're together~," Dawkins said and nuzzled D2, still oblivious to what D2 meant by that. "We'll set it up for that saturday~ The weather should be nice then~," Dawkins said as he went to write it down in their planner. "I do enjoy seeing our nieces and nephews, it almost makes me want kids someday," Dawkins said to himself, not really a topic he brought up often as he tended to consider his gadgets his 'kids' in a way.

D2 nuzzled him back and said "really? Well I wouldn't mind adopting someday you know Dawkins" he was a bit surprised to hear Dawkins say that but he decided to just take the opportunity to let Dawkins know how he felt about having kids.

"I suppose we can talk about it more once we both decide to take that next step in our lives~," Dawkins said and smiled, pulling D2 into a hug. "First things first, let's enjoy our privacy shall we?~," Dawkins said and stroked D2's fur, smirking as he said that.

D2 hugged him back and closed his eyes and said "alright Dawsy~ one step at a time~" D2 was very tempted to say something along the lines of 'well that might happen sooner then you think' but knew that would one hundred percent give away what he was planning so he thought better of it.

"Actually, I've been wanting to talk you into switching things around one day for fun~ But, I'll leave it up to you if you want to save the fun for later~," Dawkins said and closed his eyes, kissing D2 deeply as they embraced.

D2 kissed him back and closed his eyes as well before he just let the rest of the world melt away.

Dawkins wrestled with D2's tongue as he held the kiss all he wanted right now was to focus on D2 and no one else. They both had been preparing for the meet up as well as getting things situated as they discussed their future together and Dawkins felt it was about time they enjoyed some time together right now.

D2 wrestled his tongue back and was more than ready for Dawkins to have some 'fun' with him.

Dawkins would've picked D2 up and carried him to the bed, but D2 had definitely grown to be the more muscular of the two which they both teased each other about. It wasn't too much longer before Dawkins broke the kiss and smirked. "Alright, mister~ You know the drill~," Dawkins said as he felt D2's muscles, and grinning. "Just cause you look the part doesn't mean you get to be top~," Dawkins said and kissed D2's neck.

"Hehe~ you know how much I love being your bottom bitch Dawsy~ I wouldn't have it any other way~," D2 said getting up and got onto their bed and presented himself to Dawkins. D2 had always just assumed he'd grow up to be the girly one of the two and he was fine with that but seeing how they actually grew up to be like D2 had to admit he found this to be way hotter.

"Hehe~ I want to take my time, love~," Dawkins said and began to lick around D2's tail hole while gripping his boyfriend's ass with a paw and stroking himself until he was erect.

"Oh fuck~," D2 said as he felt Dawkins do so and quickly got erect himself.

Dawkins kept rimming D2 for a bit as he got erect, stopping and smacking D2's ass as he got ready to get the show on the road.

"Oh Dog~ I never get tired of this~," D2 said as Dawkins mounted him and was more than ready for his rod.

"Me neither, you'll always be my sexy bottom bitch~," Dawkins said as he pushed his tip into D2, moaning as he entered and felt D2's tight tail hole wrap around his cock.

D2 moaned as Dawkins pushed his way into him and got to thrusting and loved every second of it.

It wasn't long before Dawkins was pushing down on D2 and thrusting with all his might, moaning loudly just from how pent up he'd been lately and not bothering to hide how bad he'd been wanting to go to town on D2.

D2 was howling as he felt a wave of pleasure with each thrust. He had just as pent up as Dawkins was and needed this badly.

Dawkins was howling in ecstasy once he got up to speed almost lifting D2 off the bed with his thrusting and slamming against D2's ass making it jiggle. Dawkins playfully bit onto D2's ear, loving having his way with D2.

D2's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he felt himself getting close and kept moaning louder and louder.

Dawkins was getting closer as well, knowing already what the answer would be if he asked to knot D2. With that in mind, he just thrust harder, Dawkins' knot slapping D2's tail hole before giving one hard thrust to slam his knot into D2 and howling from pleasure as he filled D2 with his cum.

"OH FUCK YES~" D2 howled as he came right as Dawkins knotted him spraying his seed on the bed below him and fell down in a daze panting as he came down from his high.

Dawkins panted as he pulled D2 in, cuddling him as they laid on the bed. "I think we've both been needing that~," Dawkins said as he felt D2 up, knowing he loved Dawkins coping a feel while they cuddled. "Just glad to have this ass all to myself~," Dawkins said as he kissed D2's neck.

"Mmm~ it's as good as yours love~ I love you so much Dawsy~ you know just how I like it~," D2 said, loving all of this as he closed his eyes.

"I love you, Dimmy~," Dawkins said as he closed his eyes, smiling as he wrapped his arms around D2.

D2 cuddled Dawkins and yawned before he said "let's take a nap Dawsy~".

"With pleasure, love~," Dawkins said and yawned as well, letting himself fall asleep with a smile on his face.

D2 wasn't far behind him and was fast asleep and smiling as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit less of a plot heavy chapter here


	5. Round Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DJ and Da Vinci spend time together and discuss future plans.

DJ was working on a new song as Da Vinci painted, more than happy to just have some time with his wife.

Da Vinci smiled as she listened to the song DJ was working on and smiled as she enjoyed this moment with her husband.

"Almost done, love~ Just putting the finishing touches~," DJ said with a smile as he looked over to Da Vinci.

"That's excellent timing dear~ I'm almost done as well~," Da Vinci said as she smiled back at him.

"So, what you want to do after this~," DJ said and chuckled a bit as he finished up.

"Well I'm down for almost anything honestly~," Da Vinci said giggling a bit "just nothing kinky love~ I ran out of Dawkins pills and I forgot to go get some more from him".

"Yeah, we agreed to wait on kids and we should avoid any happy little accidents for now~," DJ said and kissed her, more than happy to wait for that.

Da Vinci giggled some more and kissed him back before she finished up her painting and said "so, what do you want to do love?~"

"I'm happy just taking some time and spending it with you~," DJ said as he thought about what they should do.

"That sounds nice~ maybe have one of your peaceful songs playing while we talk as well~," Da Vinci said more than okay with that and suggested as an afterthought while she nuzzled him.

"Yeah~ Let's just take it easy for now~," DJ said as he turned on some music and nuzzled Da Vinci back, laying down and waiting for Da Vinci to get beside him.

Da Vinci quickly laid down and cuddled up with him before she said "so love~ how has work been?~"

"Very good, at the rate it's going we might be able to go on a nice vacation~ Anywhere you want to go~ Italy?~ France?~" DJ said as they cuddled, sure Da Vinci would love visiting another country.

"Oh both sound nice but I think I'd like to go to France first~ not only are there some art museums I'd love to visit there, I'd love to have a picture of us in front of Eiffel tower~," Da Vinci said, loving the sound of that.

"Hehe~ Sounds perfect to me love~ I had a feeling you'd pick France~ How's your job been going~," DJ said and kissed her.

"It's going good, there's this one big-name modern art museum cross town that can't seem to get enough of my paintings and are paying top dollar~," Da Vinci said smiling and sounded like she had been waiting to let DJ know about this "best part is that they believe heavily in the artist painting what they want above all else so they aren't pushing me to make the same the same thing over and over again like that one time when we were kids".

"Oh that's great~ I'm glad they aren't putting too much pressure on you~," DJ said with a warm smile, glad things were going well. "Oh yeah, we'll be having a family meet up soon. It would be good to catch up with everyone," DJ added to remind her.

"Oh yeah, it has been a while, it'll be great to see everyone again," Da Vinci said wagging her tail at that.

"Yep and mom may tease us about grandkids but I know it's all good fun. Maybe after France, we can talk about it~" DJ said with a chuckle and wagging his tail as well.

"I have thought about it a bit but yeah definitely after France before we make any kind of decision" Da Vinci said giggling a bit.

"We'll just have to behave ourselves for now~," DJ said and kissed her, excited to see the family as well as enjoy France.

"Hehe~ yup~ but I have to say we have a lot to look forward to right now~," Da Vinci said and kissed him back and couldn't wait for both seeing the family or going to France.

"I guess you should call Dawkins and ask him for more of those pills, so he can have them ready when we see him~" DJ reminded her and nuzzled her neck.

"Alright love~ I'll do that in a second after we're done cuddling~," Da Vinci said and nuzzled him back.

"Works for me~," DJ said and closed his eyes, happy just laying there and chatting.

Da Vinci closed her eyes as well not feeling the need to say anything else at the moment and just smiled feeling at peace.

DJ enjoyed the moment in silence, not wanting to say anymore as they laid there.


	6. Fixing the Present for a Better Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante and Delgado agree to take the kids in and learn some disturbing things, but it doesn't take long for the kids to warm up to the two

Joan, as the pups played in the spare room, sat in the living room with Delgado and Dante as she explained the situation. "So you two see, I don't want to give them up but I can barely afford the roof over their heads and food on the table”.

“I'm nearly out of money and moving here was a huge financial risk that I had no choice but to take, you two are the only chance of them getting taken care of. At least until I can get back on my feet, I know this is a lot and I know you both aren't in the best of moods about this but at least consider it," Joan pleaded as Dante just looked at the paper in front of him with mixed emotions.

"Joan... it's true we aren't in the best of moods about all this but these are Dante's kids," Delgado said with a sigh before he continued with "the paternity test results proves that without a doubt, if it's as bad as you say it is then of course we'll take them in, you can even come to visit whenever you want I promise, right Dante?"

"Yeah... Of course... We'll make sure they're taken care of, and they can stay with us... We'll try to work out something as we go, you're free to visit when you like," Dante agreed as Joan wiped her eyes if anything she seemed genuine. But, Dante felt horrible about all of this and couldn't help but wonder why he had been so careless.

Delgado could tell Dante wasn't feeling great about all this and just gave him a nuzzle not sure what to say at this point.

"Alright, I need to get to my job... If anything happens, just call me..." Joan said as she got ready to leave, Dante took a deep breath. "We will Joan..." Dante said as she left, before standing up and looking towards where the kids were playing.

"We should let them know that they'll be staying with us for a while," Delgado said, getting up and starting to walk towards where the kids were to do just that.

"Alright..." Dante said as he tried to put on a happy face for them, knocking on the door and entering the room. "Alright, you three... You'll be staying here for a while, your mom will still come on see you... But, we agreed to let you stay here," Dante explained as gently as he could, knowing this should be handled delicately.

"So, she's leaving us now?" Tony said and sounded upset, obviously worried about this. "We'll see her tomorrow right?" Tina asked, looking as concerned as her brothers. "You can't help her?" Terrence asked and was looking at the two with puppy eyes.

"Listen everything is okay, your mother will visit as often as she can, I promise," Delgado said in his best soothing voice "we all talked and we all thought it would be best if you three lived with us for a while".

"Yeah, and I know I've been absent from your life until now... I can't take that back... But, I want to be there for the three of you now..." Dante said as the kids walked towards the two.

"Our mom told us a bit about you... We wondered if we'd meet you for the longest time..." Terrence admitted as he approached the two.

"Sometimes she goes out at night... We'll only see her in the morning and she'll just sleep until the afternoon..." Tina added, figuring they should hear it.

"Her last boyfriend was mean..." Tony said and shook a bit, Dante wasn't that stupid and put together what had been going on in their lives he bit his lip and clawed the floor.

"Delgado will help you three settle in... I've got to do something in my room..." Dante said as he felt even worse after hearing what they said and went out the door.

Delgado felt his heartbreak a bit hearing all of that and watched Dante go before he turned to the three and said "It's almost time for lunch, why don't we go to the kitchen and get you something to eat and drink".

"Alright, we are a bit hungry..." Tina and her brothers said in agreement before following Delgado to the kitchen.

Delgado nodded at that and once they got there he got to work getting two bowls in front of each of them, one with kibble and the other with water before he did the same for himself.

The pups were more than happy to eat without a word. "Daddy Delgado, can you show us around the house? Maybe take us to the park?" Tony asked as he looked up at Delgado. "Will dad be okay?" Terrence asked, feeling a little curious.

"Of course Tony, I'll show you around the house first and after a while, I'll take you to the park for sure, and Terrence daddy Dante will be given enough time, he just feels a bit bad about not being able to see you for so long," Delgado said putting it as delicately as he could.

"Oh alright, if you say so," Terrence responded and got back to eating, the three wagging their tails in excitement as they ate.

"You three actually came at a really good time, there's this family meetup happening in a few days with Dante and my family, you three have a lot of aunts and uncles and even cousins, and I mean a lot, that we'll need to introduce you to sooner or later," Delgado said knowing that everyone was going to hear about this eventually so this might be the perfect opportunity.

"That sounds lovely, I'd love to meet them," Tony said as he looked excited at that prospect. "Yeah, we only really heard about you and Dante," Tina said as Terrence ate happily.

"I'm sure you'll love them all," Delgado said with a giggle and got back to eating.

The three began to get finished eating, more than happy to get their day going.

Delgado finished eating as well and got up before he said "come on, I'll show you around the house".

"Yeah, it's a really nice house," Tina said as she got up with her brothers to look around.

"Thank you, I worked hard to get the money so we could afford it back in the day," Delgado said smiling as he showed them around.

"Wow, what do you do?" Tony asked, wagging his tail as he looked around, Tina and Terrence smiled as they looked at all the furniture and decor.

"I won a lot of racing tournaments back in the day, there was almost no one who could outrun me," Delgado said smiling at the memories before he continued with "I have lots of stories I can tell you about it, but at the end of the day I won so much money me and Dante are pretty much set for life at this point".

"Oh yeah, mom said she met you two at a race. I think she was there as grandpa was working for the or-gun-noser or something," Terrence said as he recalled what his mom said.

"She didn't say much more than you two were an interesting couple," Tina remarked, oblivious to what her mom meant by that.

"What does daddy Dante do?" Tony asked, being a bit curious.

Delgado giggled a bit and said: "I guess you can say Dante was my 'manager' Tony".

"Oh, so he was your top dog," Tony said in a clueless and innocent manner, not asking anymore as he knew all he wanted.

"Like Tina is the top dog when mom's not home?" Terrence asked in a curious manner, thinking out loud.

"Hey, someone has to keep you both from hurting yourselves," Tina chimed in as they got themselves riled up.

Delgado giggled a bit and said: "hehe~ I guess you could say that now please calm down, I'm almost done showing you around".

"Alright, dad we promised mom we'd behave," Terrence said as his siblings settled down and followed Delgado.

"Thank you, here's your room, I need to talk with daddy Dante for a bit and after that, I'll take you to the park like I promised," Delgado said, opening the door for them.

"Alright, thanks daddy Delgado," They all said as they went back in their room to play a bit, meanwhile Dante was laying in his bed just trying to calm his mind from all of the information he just got.

Delgado walked to their room and knocked on the door before he came in and said "hey love, I fed the kids and showed them around the house, how are you holding up?"

"I... Think you already know the answer..." Dante said with a sigh and stared at the ceiling, he wasn't sure what to tell Delgado. But, the fact his kids had to deal with things that he'd told Delgado he hoped no one ever went through was heartbreaking.

Delgado laid down next to Dante and cuddled up to him before he said "Dante... I know we both wish things were different but we can't change the past, but the important thing is that the kids are here with us now... let's work to give them a better future alright?"

"Alright, Del... Let's be there for them and just work on giving them a better future..." Dante said as he cuddled with Delgado, taking a deep breath and starting to feel a bit calmer.

Delgado smiled at that and kissed his cheek and nuzzled him. He thought it would be best if he waited for Dante to calm down all the way before he brought up taking the kids to the park.

"Alright, accidents happen and to be fair I didn't even know about them until now... But, I fully intend on taking care of them especially knowing I have you by my side..." Dante said and gave Delgado a kiss, hugging Delgado and smiling.

"I know you will Dante, I have been thinking about talking with you about having kids lately so I guess it works out," Delgado said giggling a bit and hugged him back before he continued with "I promised the kids I'd take them to the park today, by the way, I think you should come with us".

"Yeah, I admit that I had been thinking of bringing up adopting soon as well. Guess this works too, and I think I will. If they're my kids and not to mention they wanted to meet me that badly I should spend some time with them," Dante said with a smile, already feeling better from that short talk.

"Yeah that's my thoughts exactly love, come on let's go get them," Delgado said getting up and was glad he could cheer Dante up.

"Let's all go to the park, it would be nice to unwind a bit as well," Dante said as he got up and stretched a bit as well, looking forward to taking the kids to the park.

Delgado giggled at that and walked out of their room before making his way to the kid's room with Dante in tow.

"Alright, kids let's get going to the park," Dante said, and as soon as he did the three pups excitedly open left their room and went right to the front door while wagging their tails.

Delgado giggled at that and said: "wait for us kids" and with that, Delgado started to follow them to the front door.

"Do you three need anything before we leave?" Dante asked, wanting to make sure they were ready. "Yeah, we're ready to go," Tina said with excitement as her brothers waited patiently at the door. "Alright, you three if you say so," Dante said as he walked to the door.

Delgado opened the door and said: "I know you're excited but please stay where we can see you".

"Yes, stick with us please you three. We want you to have fun but you can easily get lost here," Dante told them as they went outside.

Tina and her brothers agreed and stayed close to their two dads without a word, they looked around as they were still getting accustomed to London a bit.

Delgado giggled at their reactions to everything and walked in silence next to Dante smiling.

"Glad I came..." Dante muttered as he watched three looking curious and excited, feeling his heart melt as they approached the park.

Delgado nuzzled him at that, as they entered the park having just barely heard it and whispered to him "I'm sure they're glad you came too, love".

Dante smiled at that, watching his kids run to the pond nearby. "Hey, you three no swimming in the pond..." Dante called out and rushed over to them as they looked like they were gonna jump in.

Delgado ran over to them as well and being much faster then Dante got there first and got in front of them before he said: "trust me, kids you do not want to swim in this pond, the swans around here pretty much own it and they don't like to share".

"Yeah, and I'd rather we not get into any fights today, there are some pups over there that you three could make friends with," Dante told them and pointed them to a group of pups playing ball.

"You sure they won't mind, I always get nervous around other pups," Tony said as he looked up at Dante.

"I'm sure they'll be friendly if you just go over and say hi," Dante encouraged and patted Tony's head as Terrence and Tina watched the group of pups and were thinking about joining them.

"It'll be alright Tony, we'll be close by keeping an eye on things if you need us, I promise," Delgado said smiling at Tony.

"Alright, I'll try," Tony said and followed his brother and sister, Dante chuckling as he watched them go over to play with the group of pups. He was surprised by how quickly the three had seemed to warm up to him.

"They seem to be adjusting to all of this pretty well, it's relieving, to say the least," Delgado said sitting down where he could keep an eye on them.

"I agree, and I'm actually really excited about this. Also, I really am sorry for that really dumb lie I told the other day I was panicking a bit," Dante said and kissed Delgado's cheek before wrapping an arm around him.

"It's okay I forgive you, Dante, I know how you get when you start to panic," Delgado said and kissed Dante back before leaning his head on Dante's chest.

Dante smiled at that and stroked Delgado's fur. Watching the kids play and just enjoying the scene in front of him. In truth, he wouldn't change a single thing as he watched their pups make new friends.

Delgado smiled as Dante did so and watched them as well. There were a few problems he knew were going to come up sooner or later, first of which is that he knew they couldn't hide the fact that he and Dante are brothers despite being married from their kids forever but that was for another day.

Dante was thinking the same as Delgado, adopted or not he and Delgado were still brothers and that would come up at some point. For now, Dante was content with letting things be and wanting the pups to enjoy themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was definitely interesting and definitely one with a mix of emotions


	7. A New Chapter in Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doug and Delilah discuss what's going on as they get ready for the meet up.

Doug was finally home from work, his kids were getting older but definitely still looking forward to him coming home and he finally made his way to his room after all of his kids greeted him.

Delilah was in there waiting for him and said "hello Doug, welcome home, how was work?"

"Tiring, but mostly uneventful. How about you dear?" Doug said as he pulled her into a hug.

Delilah smiled and hugged him back before she said: "Well a doctor's work is never truly done but they seem to be keeping me away from the more urgent patients lately".

"Ah, don't worry I'm sure they have their reasons love~," Doug said and gave her a kiss, smiling as they held the embrace. "Any update with Dante? I know you almost went straight over there to him. You were so upset with him, and I can't really blame you," Doug said with a sigh, having had similar feelings to Delilah.

Delilah sighed a bit and said "I'm sure they do, and yes, in fact, you were already asleep by then but last night Dante called letting me know that him and Delgado have taken the kids in as their mother simply can't afford to anymore," Delilah said and felt a bit better now that it was clear Dante was going to take responsibility for these kids and it was clear in her voice.

"Thank dog..." Doug said with a sigh of relief, glad his son was trying to do the right thing. "I didn't doubt him, but I'm glad I didn't go talk to him myself. He's a good kid, just needs to work on thinking things through," Doug said as he smiled and closed his eyes.

"Isn't that the truth, this is a huge weight off my mind to put it simply" Delilah said as she closed her eyes as well and nuzzled Doug.

"Can't wait for Dylan and Dolly to get here, I'm ready to see our grandbabies again," Doug said as he nuzzled her back.

"Same here love, I have to admit those two have made the cutest babies together," Delilah said laughing a bit "oh and by the way, I just got done calling up the Dimitris and Dora to update them on what's going on with Dante".

"Oh, I agree. And I'm sure that will keep them from giving him too much hell about it," Doug said laughing a bit, he had remembered hearing about their reactions to that news. "I think we all came close to wanting to kill him after receiving that news," Doug said with a chuckle.

"No kidding dear, but at least Dante can sleep a little easier now that everyone seems to have calmed down a bit after hearing that he's taking care of them now," Delilah said laughing a bit as well.

"Yep, I'm glad I don't have to make an unplanned visit to his house. Though, I have a feeling with Delgado there I wouldn't have to either way," Doug said with a chuckle. "Why don't we lay down a bit?~" Doug added as he rubbed Delilah's back.

"Hehe~ alright dear~," Delilah said before laying down in their bed leaving room for Doug to cuddle up to her.

"I know we have a lot of pups~ But you can let me know if you want anymore~" Doug teased as he laid next to Delilah and pulled her close to him.

"Unless you want to adopt Doug, which is more than fine by the way, I don't think we'll be having any more, getting a bit too old for it if you know what I mean," Delilah said, putting her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

"Yeah, that's alright~ Worth a shot~," Doug said with a chuckle, petting her head.

Delilah just giggled at that and said "Oh love you Doug~ you've got the biggest heart of any dog I've ever seen~".

"I love you too, Delilah~ You're the best wife I could ever ask for~," Doug said and kissing her forehead as they cuddled.

"I think I'm going to take a nap for a while Doug~," Delilah said smiling and slowly fell asleep in his embrace.

"Sounds good to me, love~," Doug said as he smiled and slowly fell asleep as well, feeling a bit more relaxed about everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short, but it turned out well


	8. Last Minute Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dylan and Dolly discuss everything as they get ready for the meet up.

"Alright, kids before we head to grandma's in a few days, we'll need to make sure you have all you need so let's look over the lists again," Dylan said as he looked over the schedule again, and had his pups lined up so he could give them an individual list he had made for each of them.

Dolly rolled her eyes and giggled at Dylan's antics and just helped him out smiling.

"Daaad, we'll be fine... We've already done this like 10 times... Can't we just have some fun now," A female pup said and rolled her eyes, reminding Dylan of a certain someone.

"Now, now Donna... If we forget something we can't just come back and get it," Dylan said trying to be serious though did crack a smile.

"Dylan I'm sure it'll be fine, not only are we not bringing a lot but a few of the boys have your tendencies to make last-minute double checks love~," Dolly said, teasing Dylan a bit while agreeing with their daughter that this was a bit much even for Dylan.

"And a lot of our daughters take after you, not that it's a bad thing~," Dylan said with a tease of his own, the pups just smiling and wagging their tails knowing their mom would talk Dylan out of the double checks again. "Alright, you can go pla-" Dylan tried to say but as soon the pups heard their dad let them go they all jumped up on him and dogpiled Dylan who couldn't help but laugh at that.

Dolly laughed as well. This never got old for her no matter how many times this happened "need a helping paw there, love?~"

"Alright, alright I love you guys too," Dylan said as he wrestled with the pups, not answering Dolly as he was too interested in the pups licking his muzzle and wanting to play.

Dolly just giggled as she watched, not even upset about getting ignored as she knew all too well how having that many pups on you could be a bit distracting.

"Alright, let daddy up, please. As much as I do love your affection, I need to get up," Dylan said after a minute, still laughing a bit.

As the kids started to get off of Dylan Dolly grabbed his paw and helped him to his feet "Run along kids, we'll call you again after a while to eat" Dolly said careful not to say the trigger word.

"Hehe~ Still wanting more?~" Dylan asked with a chuckle, watching his pup go and play with each other now.

"I think we have enough~ I don't want our house to be super crowded like mom and dads were when we were still living there," Dolly said, giving Dylan a nuzzle.

"Yeah, I think ten is a lot easier to manage~ Plus, the last batch my paw hurt for days afterward. But, you weren't exactly having the best time either," Dylan said and nuzzled Dolly back, perfectly fine with whatever Dolly said.

Dolly giggled at that and said "yeah I think that evens out~ I'll have to talk to Dawkins about hooking me up with those pills again if we want to keep having 'fun' love~" Dolly whispered the second part of that in Dylan's ear.

"Yeah, you should let him know~ But if you do change your mind and want another batch just say the word~" Dylan teased and gave Dolly a kiss, and embraced her. He noticed Donna and one of her brothers were trying to hide as they eavesdropped on the two.

Dolly didn't notice the kids eavesdropping and said "I will Dylan~ but I think we're fine where we're at right now~ love you Dyl~".

"Love you too, Doll~ And I think we have an audience~," Dylan said with a chuckle, ratting the two out as he looked toward them and smirked.

Dolly giggled a bit and turned to where Dylan was looking and said "do you want to come out yourselves?"

"Welp, we might as well. Come on, Junior," Donna said as they walked to their parents.

"Now, you two we've told you before. You shouldn't eavesdrop on people," Dylan said sternly as the pups gave him sad puppy eyes.

"Don't give us the puppy eyes thing, you know better than that" Dolly said, not having any of that. She was generally considered to be the fun parent amongst their kids but she also knew when to get tough with them as well.

"Okay, we shouldn't have been eavesdropping. We're sorry, we just thought you were talking about having more siblings for us," Donna said as her brother nodded, his sister always talking him into things.

"Alright, you two aren't to worry about that as it's between your mother and I," Dylan said, he knew Dolly could be serious when she needed to be.

"If we do decide to get you more siblings I promise you two will be the first to know, how's that?" Dolly said, giggling a bit and smiled at them.

"Okay, mom... Um, are we still in trouble?" Junior asked, looking at his mom concerned.

"Well, we could let you go this time but we catch you again and you two are grounded," Dylan said as he felt like being a little easy on them.

"Now go ahead and play with your siblings, I think you get the idea at this point," Dolly said agreeing with Dylan about letting them off the hook this one time.

"Will do, mom," Donna said and ran off with her brother in tow.

"They're so cute together, aren't they?~" Dylan teased with a chuckle as he went back to hugging Dolly.

Dolly hugged him back and giggled a bit "think they'll end up like the two of us?~" she was half-joking as she knew full well that they were too young still to say for sure but she couldn't deny the possibility when they get older.

"Well, you never know. But, if they do I'm not sure I'd be able to justify stopping them," Dylan admitted as he thought about the possibility.

"Same here Dyl, I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Dolly said and gave Dylan a nuzzle.

"That's an issue for another day," Dylan said as he nuzzled Dolly back.

"Come on~ we need to start getting dinner ready~," Dolly said, being sure to whisper the trigger word.

"Yeah, that's an issue for now~," Dylan said with a chuckle as he headed to the kitchen to get the kibble.

Dolly giggled at that and followed him there and started getting the bowls laid out.

It didn't take them long to get dinner set up, they didn't need to say a word having done this for so long it just came naturally at this point.

Once they were done Dolly and Dylan sat down at their spot at the table and Dolly called out with "okay kids it's time for dinner!"

It wasn't long before running was heard as the pups ran into the kitchen and took their seats. "Alright, kids dig in," Dylan said with a chuckle as the kids got to eating.

Dolly got to eating as well and smiled at how happy their kids seemed to be.

"I got an update from Dante, I'll let you know later," Dylan whispered to Dolly as they got to eating, it wasn't from a lack of trying but word had spread around the family pretty quickly about Dante, and just about everyone had felt a little disappointed at their brother but in the end knowing Dante was taking care of them put his mind at ease.

Dolly nodded at that and kept eating. She knew now wasn't the time to talk about that so she was fine waiting.

Dylan finished eating as soon as the pups did as well, sure Dolly would at least be a little easier on Dante the next time they talked once she heard Dante's decision.

Dolly finished eating as well and got up and said "you all are free to play until it's time for bed" Dolly then started to walk away gesturing to Dylan to follow her wanting to talk about Dante in their room.

Dylan followed Dolly to their room, he kind of agreed with Dolly. Dante knew better and shouldn't have gotten himself in that situation to begin with. Dylan did feel a bit bad about suggesting the open relationship back then, and this made his and Dolly's decision to no longer have an open relationship seem like the right choice.

Once they were there Dolly closed the door behind her and sighed a bit before she said "well? what's the news about Dante?"

"He's agreed to take the kids in, they'll be staying with him and Delgado while they try to work out a way to keep the kids and let their mother still be able to see them," Dylan explained, knowing that would put her at ease a little bit.

"Well I'm still a bit upset but I don't want to strangle him anymore," Dolly said as she laid down in their bed.

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure that same girl was part of the reason they decided to stop having an open relationship. But, yeah I think that's everyone's verdict though if he refused to take them in I don't think any of us would've let that slide," Dylan said and laid next to Dolly, pretty sure she would have acted on her desire if Dante did anything other than take them in.

Dolly sighed and said "oh well, Dante's doing the right thing and that's what counts I guess" and with that, she cuddled up to Dylan and closed her eyes.

"Yeah, as long as he is trying to do the right thing. Come on, he's our brother and it was an accident so just try not to be too hard on him," Dylan said as he cuddled Dolly back and stroked her fur.

"I'll try Dylan, I'm just a bit disappointed at this point, we all know Dante is smarter than that" Dolly said giving Dylan a nuzzle, loving this attention.

"Yep, I agree and it's a good thing this meetup is still a few days away. It'll give everyone plenty of time to get back our composure," Dylan said just trying to calm Dolly down right now.

"That's true, I guess our kids have some new cousins to get to know now at the very least," Dolly said giggling a bit.

"Yep, and I'm sure they'll love to meet them. From the sound of it, his kids are excited to meet the rest of the family," Dylan said and gave Dolly a kiss, and actually looked forward to meeting his new niece and nephews as well.

"That's good to hear, I know I can't wait to meet them that's for sure," Dolly said after she kissed him back "I'd love to take a nap right now, I'm sure we'll be up by the time it's time to put the kids to bed love~".

"Same here, let's check on them and make sure they aren't burning the house down," Dylan said and gave Dolly a hug before getting up.

"Alright Dyl~," Dolly said, getting up with him to check on them.

Dylan walked out of his room, hearing the sound of pups playing down the hall so he followed the noise.

Dolly went with him and heard them as well and couldn't tell if anything was wrong just yet.

Dylan opened the door to the room the kids were in and saw that they were having a game of tug of war.

"Seems like their fine~ let's go take that nap love~," Dolly said whispering to Dylan.

"Hehe, alright~ We'll be in our room if you kids need us just have fun and don't break anything," Dylan told the pups as they left, figuring they could have their fun.

Dolly kissed Dylan's cheek and they went back to their room and Dolly laid back down in their bed leaving room for Dylan.

Dylan laid down as well, just wanting to cuddle with Dolly as he closed his eyes. He licked her muzzle and smiled as he embraced her.

Dolly gave him a lick back and closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep smiling.

Dylan wasn't far behind her, feeling like he had got the best out of life with his wife by his side and plenty of kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There'll be plenty for the family to talk about when they meet.


	9. Family Meetup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meetup finally happens, and the kids are excited to meet everyone but Dante and D1 have more pressing concerns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long Chapter, but really do be like that

Tina, Tony, and Terrence were up early ready to go as they ran into Dante and Delgado's room. "Dad's wake up! Wake up! Today's the day, let's go!" All three said as they bounced on the bed to wake their dads up.

"Mm... What time is it even?" Dante asked as he just barely woke up to look at the clock.

Delgado groaned a bit and looked over with Dante at the clock and it showed that it was five o'clock in the morning "Kids I'm happy you're excited to meet the rest of the family but we aren't leaving for another five hours".

"Yeah, we'll get you up when it's time just go back to bed for now so you aren't too tired when we get going," Dante said, closing his eyes again and felt three bodies curling up between him and Delgado.

"Okay dad, but can we stay in here with you two," Tony asked as he nuzzled Dante, and wagged his tail.

"Okay, just this once if your other dad doesn't mind," Dante said and nuzzled Tony back.

"Of course I don't, let's get some sleep," Delgado said, closing his eyes and cuddling up to all of them.

Dante cuddled them well and closed his eyes, the three pups smiling as they nuzzled Delgado and Dante before slowly falling back to sleep. Dante just smiled at that and chuckled a bit, happy that they seemed to be enjoying themselves so far. "They really do look cute don't they?" Dante whispered to Delgado, as he smiled.

"They sure do, let's get back to sleep, we've got a long day ahead of us," Delgado said and closed his eyes and fell back asleep for now.

Dante wasn't far behind them and soon found himself back asleep, knowing Delgado was right. He was sure the family wanted to meet the kids but also would want to talk with him as well for many reasons.

A few hours later their alarm started to ring at seven A.M. and woke all five of them up.

"Ugh... was having a nice dream too..." Dante groaned as he carefully got the kids off him so he could up and stretch. The kids groaned as well, having been enjoying their sleep and not wanting to get up.

"Alright, you three. Guess it's my turn to wake you guys up," Dante said with a chuckle, as much as he would've loved to cuddle with them they all needed to make sure they were ready to go.

Delgado got up and stretched as well and said "I'll be in the kitchen getting you know what ready" Delgado wasn't sure if their kids had the same trigger words his siblings had but he was playing it safe for now.

"We'll be there in a bit, dear," Dante said with a smile as Delgado went to make breakfast.

"But, can we just have a few more minutes," Tina protested as Dante got the three of them up. After some protests he got them to take a quick bath, before leading them to the kitchen once they dried off.

By the time they got there Delgado had finished setting everything up and smiled as they took their seats.

"Dig in everyone, we don't want to go on an empty stomach," Dante said with a smile as well, happy that things had gone smoothly so far as they got to eating.

Delgado got to eating once the kids started and nuzzled Dante before he whispered to Dante "I'm pretty sure everyone won't be too harsh with you love but this will still be something else today".

"I feel they'll be happier with me since we're taking care of them now," Dante whispered and nuzzled back before getting back to eating.

Delgado nodded at that and got back to eating as well not sure what to say at this point.

Once everyone was finished, Dante got up to put the bowls in the sink. "We need you kids on your best behavior when we go, we want you to make friends and meet everyone but we just ask that you guys listen to us," Dante said, to which the pups nodded.

"Yeah, it'll mostly be family there but please stay where we can see you as well," Delgado said not too worried as their kids seemed well behaved but just wanted to make sure they knew not to wander off too far.

"Other than that, I know they're all excited to meet you three and there will be plenty of pups your age," Dante told them as the pups washed their paws and faces.

With that out of the way they finished up getting ready and made their way out the door.

It wasn't long before they made it to the park for the meetup, Dante looking around and decided they should talk with Delilah first.

Delgado had the same idea and looked around for her and waved at their siblings and their kids but couldn't help but noticed that more than a few of them were having a hard time smiling.

It didn't go unnoticed by Dante either, it hurt but he knew he had it coming. It was definitely obvious that everyone still had some hard feelings for him right now, he walked around with the kids as they stuck with him for now and noticed Delilah nearby.

She smiled as she saw him with kids before giving him a death glare, Dante could tell she was going to have word with him as soon as the kids were out of earshot.

Delgado felt chills go down his spine from that death glare and he wasn't even the one Delilah was aiming it at and once they got up to her he said "hey mom, let me introduce you to Tony, Tina, and Terrence, kids, this is your grandmother Delilah".

"Nice to meet you three, why don't you go and introduce yourselves to the other pups as I want to talk with both of your dads," Delilah said as she hugged the three and encouraged them to go play with the other kids.

Dante just gulped at that as he knew Delilah wasn't going to kill him but he was going to wish she did. The last time Delilah gave him that look it was because she found out what happened between him and Dawkins.

Delgado wanted to say something to get Delilah to go a bit easier on him but knew very well there was no helping that at this point and just stayed silent for now.

"Dante, I know you had to have known better than that..." Delilah said with a sigh as soon as the kids ran off, and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, mom. I just... I thought it would be fine and I was given the okay... I didn't really feel it necessary to check..." Dante explained as he tried to be careful with how he phrased that.

"I get that you and Delgado had an open relationship, and you grew a bit attached to that girl but from the sound of it that negligence has ruined her life..." Delilah said with a sigh as she tried to maintain her composure.

"I'm trying to fix it, mom..." Dante said, not really wanting to argue about this.

"I know, sweetie..." Delilah said and put an arm around him.

"We've talked about helping Joan find a job and giving her some money to help her get off the ground, we're not sure if she'll accept it but we are going to at least offer it next time we see her," Delgado said as he leaned into Dante hoping this will help Delilah calm down a bit.

"Yeah, we've been talking about that as well as working something out that will be best for everyone involved," Dante added as he took a deep breath.

"As long as you two are trying, to be honest, we're all a little disappointed that Dante found himself in this situation..." Delilah said as she calmed down a little, knowing that at least Dante was trying to make things right.

"I can't say I blame you," Delgado said with a sigh. In truth, Delgado was feeling a bit responsible for all of this as well having given Dante the okay in the first place and it was written all over his face at this point.

"Now, I told the others to leave you alone as I was going to be the one talking to you. Just do try and handle this with care, at the end of the day three pups are involved that didn't ask to be in the middle of it," Delilah said as she stroked Dante's fur.

"I understand, mom. The pups don't deserve any of this, but Delgado and I have been working together to be there for them like I should've in the first place," Dante said as Delilah nuzzled him and Delgado.

Delgado nuzzled her back and said: "we'll do everything in our power to set things right mom we promise".

"I'm sure you will, now let's introduce them to the family shall we?" Delilah said with a warm smile, to which Dante nodded.

Delgado nodded as well and called out to the kids "Tony, Tina, Terrence, come on we're going to introduce you to everyone".

"Alright, everyone listen up so we can finally introduce the newest additions to the family," Delilah said and got everyone's attention as Dante's pups ran over to their parents.

The three pups stared at the crowd a little nervous, their fur a mix of black white, and brown with spots here and there.

"I'm sure you all have been waiting to see them, and I know I'm not everyone's favorite dog right now, but anyway allow me to introduce everyone to Tina, Terrence, and Tony," said as he stroked Tony's fur as he seemed to not like having all eyes on him.

Delgado leaned down to Tony and said "I know it's intimidating having so many dogs looking at you at once but I promise everyone here is family and they just want to get to know you".

Delilah took a step back and Dora was the first to walk up to introduce herself, carrying herself with the grace and gentleness she was known for at times.

"Welcome to the family, you three. I'm your Aunt Dora, and it's great to finally meet you," Dora told the three and gave them a warm smile.

"Nice to meet you, Aunt Dora!" The three pups said excitedly and gave her a hug which she happily returned, and shot Dante the dirtiest look he'd ever seen from her.

He wasn't too surprised, she had called Dante that night they found out and gave him one of the longest lectures he'd ever received. Dante heard her say things that had probably made D3 wince.

D3 came up behind her and let them hug it out before he said "I'm your uncle Dimitri 3 or D3 for short" he then gave Dora a kiss on her cheek "I'm Dora's Husband, it's nice to meet you".

"Nice to meet you too, uncle D3," they said and gave him a hug as well, just happy to meet everyone.

D3 hugged them back and smiled. He wasn't happy with Dante like the rest of the family but he wasn't going to give him that much grief about it since he knew Dante would and has gotten plenty of that already and just focused on the kids for now.

Dante knew Dora and the Dimitris would probably have the most problems with him over this, all things considered, it wasn't too surprising.

D1 was the next one to walk up to greet them, being Dante's half brother and a father himself not to mention their history he couldn't even look at Dante. D1 put on a smile as he walked up to the kids, keeping his cool.

"Good to meet you, I'm your uncle Dimitri 1 or just D1," D1 told them and gave them a hug, refusing to make eye contact with Dante.

"And I'm your Aunt Destiny, D1's wife, we'll introduce you to our kids and your cousins after you've met all the adults," Destiny said giving them a hug as well choosing not to look at Dante either.

"We can't wait!" They said and hugged her back, happily wagging their tails.

Dawkins walked up next to introduce himself, looking over at Dante with a face the goth was all too familiar with.

"My name is Dawkins, it's a pleasure to meet you three," Dawkins said and smiled, giving them a hug.

"And I'm Dimitri 2 or D2, I'm the last of Dante's brother's named Dimitri don't worry," D2 said laughing a bit trying to lighten the mood a bit and hugged them as well.

Dawkins and the pups laughed at that, Dawkins walked away as the pups hugged D2.

"Why do you three have the same name?" Terrence asked with curiosity, blinking at D2, and tilting his head.

"Me and my brother grew up on the streets for a few years and one of our earliest memories is this guy calling one of us Dimitri and we just thought he meant all of us and we never bothered to change it," D2 said just being honest with them.

"Oh alright then," Terrence said, wagging his tail and satisfied with that as they got ready to meet whoever showed up next.

"Oh my Dog you three are so adorable~," Da Vinci said as she came over and hugged them "I'm your Aunt Da Vinci, and over there is my Husband and your uncle DJ".

"Hehe, yep and we've been looking forward to meeting you," DJ added and joined the hug which the pups were happy to return.

"If you kids can sit still long enough I can make a painting of you three after a while if you want" Da Vinci said just seeing if that was something they would be interested in.

"Alright, that sounds fun," Tina said and her brothers nodded in agreement, Dante smiled a bit at that, staying silent as he was sure DJ and Da Vinci shared the same sentiment as everyone else right now.

DJ just tried not to think about Dante, he knew Dante was better than that but also felt Dante really had a lapse in judgment for this to have happened.

Da Vinci was just trying not to think about what Dante did but was really just hoping this was all just an honest mistake and said "alright we'll see you after a while for that" and with that she and DJ walked off for whoever next wanted to meet Dante's kids.

Dylan approached next and gave the three a hug with Dolly beside him. "I'm your uncle Dylan and this is my wife, your aunt Dolly," Dylan said with a smile as the pups hugged him back.

"It's really nice to meet you three," Dolly said, hugging the three of them as well and gave Dante a death glare when the kids couldn't see her face.

It wasn't long before everyone finished greeting the pups and Dante wasn't sure what to think after all the looks he got and just waited unsure what was happening next.

Delgado nuzzled Dante and said: "you kids go meet your cousins, me and Dante will keep an eye on you".

"That went well..." Dante said nuzzling Delgado back as the pups went to play. He then received a tap on the shoulder he dreaded to see who from.

"Dante, come with me please..." Dora said with a heavy sigh, she wanted to talk with Dante face to face and see what he had to say.

"I need to stay and keep an eye on the kids, good luck Dante," Delgado said with a sigh.

"Thanks, Del..." Dante said and followed Dora to the rest of his siblings, this was one time he didn't want to talk with them but knew he had to.

"Have anything to say for yourself, Dante?" Destiny said standing next to D1.

"Not really, but in my defense, I had asked her if she was in heat and did everything short of checking her myself... She told me she was safe and I thought Delgado and I knew her well enough..." Dante said in his defense, trying not to yell as that wouldn't help his case.

"So, are you saying she lied to you about it?" Dora asked as she thought this over.

"Yes, she lied that she wasn't in heat so I would knot her! Do you guys really think I'd abandon my own children?!" Dante yelled as he started hyperventilating.

"Dante... Calm down... You aren't doing yourself any favors getting upset..." Dylan said going over to Dante and patting his back.

Da Vinci walked over to Dante and took one of his paws in her own and said "I believe you, Dante, you just aren't the kind of dog who would knock up some poor girl like that if you could have helped it".

"Dante, we don't hate you and if she lied like that then that's on her... I know you better than anyone here for the most part... I don't believe you had any malicious intent and if Delgado okayed it that means you both trusted her enough to be completely honest..." Dora said feeling a bit angrier now for a different reason.

"Thanks, you three, so what's everyone else's verdict?" Dante asked and looked to the others.

"Dante, me and you have quite the history together and I gave you a lot of chances that blew up in my face... But, I also saw you try to do the right thing many times... I don't feel you carry all the blame here..." Dawkins said as he thought it over.

"Mistakes happen... And if she lied to you and you're trying to do the right thing... I see no reason to doubt that you had no idea until now Dante..." D1 said with a sigh as he put an arm around Destiny.

"I have evidence to back up that if you knew something bad would be the result of an action... You would've put a stop to it immediately..." DJ said and decided to believe Dante here.

Dolly sighed a bit and as she thought this over she was in the same boat as Dora and said "Yeah, it really couldn't have been helped if she lied".

Destiny leaned into D1 and said: "I'm sorry that I just assumed the worst of you Dante...."

D2 just nodded in agreement with everyone not having anything to add that someone else hadn't already said.

"Alright, is that everything?" Dylan asked and wanted to make sure everyone said their piece.

"That's alright, Destiny..." Dante said as Dora went over and hugged him, no one really having much more to say.

"We should get back to the meetup, Dante I'm glad you're taking care of these kids," D3 said with a sigh.

"Yeah, let's just put on a happy face for kids right now..." Dylan said, just glad everyone was being calm about this.

"Hey, Dante... their mother... what's her name?" D1 whispered to Dante as before he got ready to walk away.

"Joan, why?" Dante replied with a whisper himself, finding it a bit odd for D1 to ask that.

"No reason..." D1 said and gritted his teeth as he walked away, not saying anymore for now.

Everyone went back to mingling with the rest of the family, and Delgado was waiting for Dante near the flowerbed where their kids and their cousins had wandered to, making sure they didn't mess with the flowers.

Dante walked back to Delgado, giving him a kiss as he sat down. "Well, I'm not dead and I at least got to make my case..." Dante said with a sigh, not sure there was much to say about that.

Delgado nodded at that and kissed him back and said "That's good, the kids have been having fun, they've met up with D1 and Destiny's kids as well as Dylan and Dolly's... hopefully they'll show up soon as I'm really not used to looking after this many kids".

"Yeah, I can understand that love," Dante said and nuzzled Delgado, D1 walked up and sat next Dante after a bit in silence.

"Hey D1, our kids have gotten along very well so far," Delgado said after a minute.

"That's great, and I'll help you two watch them. But I also want to talk with you two," D1 said with a serious expression as he faced them.

"D1, come on... I think we've talked enough today..." Dante said and didn't really care to hear anymore.

"I want to know more about this 'Joan'... What breed is she?" D1 asked just getting to the point.

"She's a Rat Terrier, why do you want to know?" Delgado said wondering what this was all about.

"Yeah, you seem a bit focused on her now?" Dante asked, now very curious as to why D1 was so interested in her.

"I have my reasons, that's all I wanted to know," Dimitri 1 said as he watched the kids, not saying any more though it was obvious something was bugging him.

Delgado wanted to say something but he couldn't bring himself to push further and just watched the kids in silence for now.

Dante felt it better to stay silent as well, just finding D1's behavior odd. He was wondering if D1 knew her somehow but wondered how that was possible.

D1 didn't ask anymore and noticed Dylan come sit with them as well, he had nothing concrete to say for sure but felt he should talk with D3 about it.

"Hey, Dylan" was all Delgado said, still watching the kids as he thought everything over.

"Hey you three, the kids getting along?" Dylan asked as he smiled, watching the kids playing together.

"Yep, they seem to be enjoying themselves so far," Dante said with a smile and put an arm around Delgado.

"They should be fine with you three, I'm gonna chat with D3," D1 said and waved as he walked off to find his brother.

They waved him off and Delgado and Dante were still wondering why D1 was so interested in Joan but put that thought aside for now. D3 was with Dora sitting by the pond just relaxing for a minute before they got to talking with everyone.

D1 noticed this and walked over to D3, figuring he might as well go ahead with it. Dora looked up and noticed D1, she stared at him as if to say 'this had better be important'.

D3 noticed him coming as well and said "hey bro, what's up? I recognize that look on your face..."

"Hey, bro... You remember Joan?" D1 asked not wanting to bother being subtle, and Dora looked a bit confused after hearing the name.

"You mean that bitch that treated D2 as less than dirt? how could I forget?" D3 said wondering where D1 was going with this.

"I have a hunch... That Dante ran into her..." D1 said with a look in his eyes D3 was all too familiar with.

"You mean... That bitch is the mother of Dante's kids?" Dora asked and got to her feet almost immediately, not even trying to hide how pissed off she was.

D3 got to his feet as well and said "how sure are you about this D1, you know what that'll mean for all of us if it's true" D3 was trying and failing to stay calm as he said that, his thoughts racing around in his head from the mere accusation of this.

"I'm only telling you to let you know... I asked Dante and he said her name was Joan and that she was a rat terrier. I'm just hoping I'm wrong and that's one hell of a coincidence. Let's assume it's not her for now..." D1 said, knowing that's not an accusation he should take lightly.

"D1, I hope you're wrong about this..." Dora said, knowing what it would mean for all involved. She stroked D3's back and tried to calm him down.

D3 took some deep breaths and sat back down before he said "that would be quite the coincidence, having both the same name and being the exact same breed... later I'll ask Dante if I can come with next time they go to meet with her until then let's just pretend everything is okay".

"Yeah, and don't say anything to D2 for now... He's been doing great and we don't want to risk him relapsing either way..." D1 told them both, knowing they wouldn't say anything until they had more solid evidence.

"You don't have to tell me to keep my mouth shut about this in front of D2 that's for sure," D3 said, feeling a lot of mixed emotions right then.

"I'm gonna go talk with Destiny, sorry I ruined the mood..." D1 said to which Dora just nodded and smiled even though it was a bit forced. D1 wasn't sure he should say anything to Destiny, but she was his wife and she'd get it out of him sooner or later.

D3 and Dora waved him off. Destiny had just got done talking with DJ and Da Vinci and was wondering what D1 was doing right about now.

"Hey, love~ Enjoying yourself?~" D1 said as he walked up and kissed her, putting on a smile. He hugged her and took a deep breath.

"Sure am~ something wrong love?" Destiny said seeing right away that his mind was troubled.

"Yes, I'm a little concerned about something... Let's go somewhere we can't be overheard," D1 said, he wasn't going to bother hiding this as it was just a waste of time trying to convince Destiny that everything was fine when it wasn't. He led her to a spot that was out of the way, just wanting to get to it.

"I take it this is serious... what happened now?" Destiny said looking him in the eyes with a worried look on her face.

"It's about Dante's kids... Their mother... I have a hunch my brothers and I have run into her before..." D1 said without an ounce of warmth in his voice or face, he figured Destiny could connect the dots here.

"You mean you think it's _her_..." Destiny said with venom in her voice not having to think that hard to get what he meant.

"Same name, same breed... One hell of a coincidence if not, I'm not saying it's her but..." D1 said, not wanting to jump to a conclusion yet.

Destiny nodded at that and said: "I get what you mean, it's better that we make 100% sure, even if it's really not looking good right now".

"I'm not telling anyone else, D3 and Dora know and you know. We keep this to ourselves until D3 can see for himself," D1 said just to let her know. "I really, really want to be wrong about this..." D1 said as his body shook with anger.

"Right, I'm not telling a soul about this until D3 can verify this one way or the other" Destiny said pretty angry herself now "all we can do now is wait and hope for the best".

"Alright, let's leave it for now and try to enjoy the rest of our day..." D1 said he kind of wished his curiosity didn't get the best of him now.

Destiny nodded at that and said "let's go enjoy ourselves D1" and with that, she got up and started walking back to where everyone was.

D1 nodded and followed, wanting to enjoy the rest of the day with his family. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind for now, wanting to catch up with his other siblings.


	10. An Unwelcome Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> D3, Dante, Delgado, and Dora wait for Joan's arrival to see who she is for themselves.

Dante was waiting with Dora, Delgado, and D3 for the pups' mother to arrive. "D3... You're acting strange... You and your brother have become obsessed with meeting her... Like you know her or... Something..." Dante was saying until something clicked and it was if he realized what was going on immediately.

D3 saw that look of realization on Dante's face as he talked and said "We're really hoping we're wrong Dante but I need to make sure".

"Wait what? what's going on?" Delgado said absolutely clueless as to what was going on.

"Basically, D1 and D3 are concerned that you two may have run into the same bitch that did something terrible to D2..." Dora told Delgado, explaining as simply as she could and wasn't sure Dante told anything to Delgado.

"Yeah, something like that... If it is, things are going to get a bit more complicated for all of us," Dante said with a sigh, really hoping they were just being paranoid.

"Oh my Dog... Dante told me all about that..." Delgado said really hoping that this was all just a misunderstanding.

"Yeah, if we're wrong I don't think any of us will be happier to have made a mistake in our lives..." D3 said with a sigh.

Dante heard the doorbell ring and stood up. "That may be her... And D3 if you are right... Try not to jump her... We'll figure something out after she leaves..." Dante said as he went to answer the door, really hoping D3 can hold himself together if it turns out to be her.

D3 stood next to Dora and tried to keep his cool. He was going to try and keep his outbursts vocal if it was her if only because if it is her and she's the mother of his new nephews and niece.

Dante knew he couldn't expect D3 to keep his mouth shut if he saw her, Dante couldn't really blame him. If it was her, Dante wasn't sure how he'd feel about it either. Dora had an arm around D3 and was going to try to hold him back if she needed to. Dante made sure the kids were with Delilah for today as D3 suggested, he opened the door for Joan and let her in just waiting for what was about to happen.

D3 took one look at her and recognized her right away and said "Hey Joan, didn't expect to see me here I take it? Do you have any idea how badly you fucked with my brother's head you bitch!" D3 was surprisingly not yelling yet but it was clear as day how pissed off he was.

Joan jumped back almost immediately looking like she'd seen a ghost as she went pale. Dante's expression changed with that and noticed Dora walking towards Joan, the atmosphere shifting almost immediately when D3 saw her.

D3 took in a deep breath and said "I know you had no way of knowing this Joan but I'm Dante's half brother, we met up and found out about how we're related years ago by chance and everyone here knows what you did to D2" D3 wanted Joan to know exactly how far up the creek without a paddle she was.

"I think I should go..." Joan said and backed out of the door, knowing she wasn't welcome any longer.

"And stay out..." Dante said and slammed the door in her face, sitting on the ground with a sigh knowing things would be more complicated. Dora was relieved she at least got the hint and left without a fight.

D3 sat down and let out a sigh as his thoughts raced around in his head "what do we do now?" he asked not sure of anything at the moment.

Delgado just sat next to Dante thinking everything over.

"Well... We could try and get her to sign custody over to me... Though the kids seem to love her... Nor did Delgado and I notice any signs of abuse from her towards the kids... So it will be harder to sort all of this out..." Dante said as he leaned into Delgado.

"Well, the kids aren't the bad guys here... Let's just remember that..." Dora said as she thought this over, feeling even more pissed off now.

"She said it herself, she can't afford to keep them, Dante, she'd be out of her mind not to sign custody over to us when we ask her to," Delgado said thinking this over "though the kids do seem to love her..."

D3 just stayed silent for now as he thought this over.

"Yeah... I'll get in touch with some people and if all goes well we can solve this without a messy legal battle..." Dante said and took a deep breath, now a bit more concerned.

"We do have some dirt on her that could make her want to settle the matter without a fight..." Dora said and Dante recalled some things the kids had said.

"The kids have mentioned she'd disappear for days a lot, even going out late at night... We believe she may be a prostitute... a visit to court wouldn't go well for her..." Dante said and closed his eyes.

With a sigh, D3 got up and said "looks like the kids are as good as yours, I'm going to go call D1 and let him know what's going on" and with that he walked out of the room to make that phone call.

Dante nodded at that as Delgado and Dora stayed with him and waited for him to get done. D1 was in his office, working on his next novel as Destiny took care of the kids. He had his phone next to him as he nervously anticipated the call from D3.

His phone rang with the caller ID showing it was D3 and the second he answered it he heard D3 say "you were right, it was her..."

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" D1 exclaimed way louder then he should've, knowing Destiny and kids probably heard that. "Alright... Thanks for letting me know..." D1 said after taking a breath and letting out a sigh.

D3 had to pull the phone away from his ear as D1 yelled that and said "you're welcome bro, right now Dante Delgado and Dora are making plans for getting custody over the kids, I won't say much but it's looking good so far".

"Good to know... You think she'll give them up without a fight?" D1 asked as he tried to calm back down, curious how this was going to go.

"For her sake, she will, long story short from what the kids have said we have reason to believe that she's a prostitute," D3 said feeling confident about this.

"That and if all the other bullshit she did came out, custody will be her least concern..." D1 said and sounded hopeful his nephews and niece wouldn't get caught up in a messy legal dispute.

"Yeah pretty much, if she's smart she'll just sign the custody papers and crawl back to whatever hole she came from," D3 said with a sigh.

"I agree... I want her back out of our lives asap..." D1 said with a sigh, feeling that at least they can handle it quickly.

"Same here bro... we'll have to explain to everyone why Dante isn't going to help her anymore... I'm not looking forward to D2 hearing about this..." D3 said with a sigh.

"I'm concerned with how that'll affect the view he has of Dante's kids... He seemed to love meeting them..." D1 told D3, his voice showing how worried he was.

"I know what you mean... since we can't stop D2 from hearing about this I think we should be the ones to let him know... with any luck we can make sure he knows the kids aren't bad in any way," D3 said just as worried as his brother was.

"Alright... We should call him... Though I would rather tell him in person..." D1 said with a sigh, not looking forward to this at all.

"I'll meet up with him in person and call you again and put you on speaker phone when I get there if you want, I want us all to be there in all honesty but I know that's not a drive you can make every day," D3 said with a sigh as well as he thought this over.

"For him... I'll try... Just need to talk with Destiny..." D1 said and took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'm sure she'll understand, call me back once you have that settled, see you later D1," D3 said getting ready to hang up feeling like there wasn't much more to say.

"Will do... Surprised she hasn't knocked to check on me yet... see ya..." D1 said as he hung up, putting his head in his paws with a groan.

D3 hung up as well and walked back to Dante Delgado and Dora before he said "alright that's done, you guys worked out some kind of plan while I was gone?"

"We'll get the papers done and get her to sign, agreeing to giving full custody and never approaching us or the family ever again," Dante said with a sigh as he hugged Dora and Delgado.

Delgado closed his eyes and hugged Dante back.

"Sounds good to me, we'll have to tell the family what's going on so they don't get on your case again which sadly means D2 is going to hear about this" D3 said with a sigh as he sat down "me and D1 are going to talk with him soon about it and hopefully smooth things over".

"The kids mentioned wanting to go visit him... Guess we'll have to gently tell them to leave him alone for now at least..." Dante said, feeling really bad about all of this himself.

"Hopefully D2 will realize that her kids are nothing like her, but we will have to wait and see, I'll let you know how that talk goes, either way, Dante," D3 said, looking at the ceiling as Dora sat down next to him and they cuddled up.

"I'm sure he'll come around either way, but hopefully he's come to terms with what happened well enough to not take it out on the kids," Dante said, sounding a bit hopeful.

"Well, he has Dawkins and those two have helped each other come a long way," Dora said as she nuzzled D3.

D3 nuzzled Dora back before he said "no kidding, I'm sure Dawkins will be a huge help with that talk, when we get home I'll give him a call as well so he has time to prepare for this".

"Alright, let's head home for now and give Delgado and Dante some privacy..." Dora said as she leaned against D3.

"Alright, see you guys around, if you need us we're just one call away," D3 said getting up and walking towards the front door.

"Of course, D3... Same to you, see ya," Dante said with a smile as he watched the two leave.


	11. A Day at the Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawkins and Dimitri 2 have memorable day at the beach.

Dawkins finally made it to the beach with D2, it was a very nice day and definitely a good mini-vacation from their work.

D2 stretched a bit as they got out of the bus and said "let's head down to the beach love~".

"Of course, Dimmy~," Dawkins said and gave him a kiss as they found a nice spot to sit.

"This is nice Dawsy~ it's been too long since the last time we came to this beach~," D2 said leaning his head on Dawkins's shoulder, not wanting to pop the question right away.

"Yeah~ It really has~," Dawkins said as he leaned his head against D2's. He was enjoying just being there with D2, looking at other couples spending time together as well as kids playing.

D2 looked at the other couples and their kids and said "they look like they're happy, think that'll be us someday?~"

"I do think about it~ I just worry I wouldn't be very good with kids~ Though, the idea of being with you and watching our pups play together is a very nice thought~," Dawkins said with a smile and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

D2 giggled a bit and said "I've thought about it too and it does sound really nice~" he then gave Dawkins a kiss on his cheek and nuzzled him a bit.

"I'm willing to try one day~ For you~," Dawkins said and kissed him back, closing eyes and smiling.

D2 closed his eyes and let the rest of the world melt away for a while just enjoying the moment with Dawkins and after ten minutes of them staying like that it began to hit him that he was actually going to propose to Dawkins and started to get visibly nervous.

Dawkins noticed D2 getting nervous and smiled, having kind of guessed what D2 was planning but not saying anything. "No need to be nervous, love~" Dawkins whispered as he nuzzled D2, more than ready to get to this next phase of their lives and felt they'd waited long enough.

D2 took in a deep breath before letting it out. He knew that tone Dawkins was using all too well and said "I was hoping this would have been a surprise, oh well" D2 pulled out a small box that couldn't be mistaken for anything other then a ring box and presented it to Dawkins before he continued with "I love you Dawkins, more than I can put into words, I think I'm ready for the next step in our lives if you are, Dawkins? will you marry me?"

"Of course, D2~ Yes, I will~ I love you too~," Dawkins said, wagging his tail as he hugged and kissed D2 several times in excitement.

D2 started giggling uncontrollably and wagged his tail as Dawkins kissed him "I was pretty sure you would say yes~ but you know how paranoia can be~ I love you so much Dawkins~ you've made me the happiest dog in the world~".

"Same here, D2~ If you hadn't been so excited about coming here and adamant about talking about our future together~ I might not have guessed~," Dawkins said with a giggle himself noticing they had gained a small audience that seemed to enjoy what they just saw.

D2 giggled a bit and waved at everyone watching a said "my bad Dawsy~ although could you really blame me?~"

"No, not at all~ And you know what adopting a few kids and raising a family doesn't sound like a bad idea at all~," Dawkins said and kissed D2, smiling a bit at the attention.

D2 kissed him back and said: "I'm glad Dawkins~ we'll work out the details sometime after the wedding though~".

"Of course, of course~ And I don't mind the attention but I would like to enjoy this with my soon to be husband, please and thank you," Dawkins said with a polite smile, to which the crowd nodded and walked away to let them be alone.

D2 giggled at that and cuddled up to Dawkins and closed his eyes again "I love you Dawkins~ I can't wait to tell everyone that we're getting married~".

"Me neither~ And your brothers are coming to talk with you soon, I just want to enjoy this moment with you~," Dawkins said as he cuddled D2 back.

"Oh that'll be nice, but yeah let's just focus on the moment for now~," D2 said oblivious to what his brothers will want to talk about.

"Yeah... I feel good about all this~ We'll work out the details later~" Dawkins said and nuzzled D2's neck, happy things had gone overall. While a bit shocked by the news he received, he was still happy for Dante and Delgado.

D2 nuzzled him back for a bit, happy with all of this as well "we can all the way to the beach, I say we go swimming for a bit, love~".

"Alright, let's do it sweetie~," Dawkins said not wanting to say no and wanting D2 to have as much fun as he could.

D2 and Dawkins went into the water and went swimming, laughing and splashing each other and overall having a grand time.


	12. Getting the Worst Out of the Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dimitris and Dawkins tell D2 what's going on, expressing their concerns about the situation.

Dawkins and D1 were sitting down as they waited for D3, shifting uncomfortably and glancing at each other with worried looks as they waited for D2 to get back. "This is going to break his heart..." Dawkins said with a sigh, to which D1 just nodded.

Just then they heard a knock on the door "Hey guys, I'm here," D3 said, calling out to them and waited for them to open the door.

Dawkins opened the door for D3, letting him take a seat knowing D2 would return any minute.

"I hate that we have to do this..." D1 said with a groan as they waited for D2.

"Same here bro, but it's going to be a lot worse if he hears it from someone else," D3 said sitting down with them.

"Yeah, at least with the three of us here we can comfort him..." Dawkins said with a sigh as he looked at the ground.

"Yeah, it's best he hears it from the three of us..." D1 said and just waited for D2.

D3 nodded at that, not having anything else to add to that. A few minutes later they heard the sound of the door unlocking from the paw print scanner Dawkins designed "hey Dawkins I'm home" D2 said, calling out to his fiancé.

"We're in the living room, love," Dawkins said, taking a deep breath for the inevitable breakdown D2 was about to have.

"Yeah, we have something we need to talk with you about," D1 said as he tried to calm himself.

D2 came into the living room and sat down next to Dawkins before he said "hey guys, not that I don't mind seeing you but the family meetup was three days ago, is something going on?"

"Yeah about that..." D3 said he was having trouble getting himself to keep going with that sentence.

"You see... There's something you should know about Dante's kids..." Dawkins said and gulped as he tried to say this gently.

"We think them visiting you should wait a bit..." D1 said and closed his eyes as they got ready to explain why.

"What? why not? I love those kids and they seemed to really like me" D2 said, extremely confused now and D3 was looking everywhere but at D2 at this point.

"Because... We aren't sure how you'll react... When you hear who their mother is..." Dawkins said and wasn't sure what to do as he looked at D2.

"Their mother... Is Joan... We aren't sure how she ran into Dante... But it seems she tricked him into sleeping with her..." D1 said and looked D2 dead in the eyes.

"....I'm sorry? I must have misheard you, it sounded like you said their mother is Joan... but that's impossible...." D2 said with a look on his face that said ‘please let me have just misheard that’.

"Dante got someone to investigate... But, somehow she found Dante and Delgado... I'm sorry... I thought she was long gone myself... I guess Dante was just the latest victim of her old tricks..." D1 said as he let out a sigh, knowing D2 was about to freak out.

"How is she alive! I beat her within an inch of her life in the middle of the night in an abandoned building where no one could find her!" D2 said getting up and started pacing in his frustration.

"I have no idea bro..." D3 said as he couldn't blame his brother for this reaction.

"That's a good question... But if all goes well... She'll be out of our lives again soon..." D1 said as he walked over to D2.

"I know this is a shock, just take a deep breath and try to stay calm..." Dawkins said, not really blaming D2 himself.

D2 took a deep breath like Dawkins suggested before he said "please don't keep me away from the kids... I know they're innocent in all of this, I promise not to do anything to them I swear..."

"We believe you won't... We just want to be sure..." D1 said as he pulled D2 into a hug, while Dawkins approached D2 as well.

"Okay..." was all D2 could say as he started to sob into his brother's shoulder. D3 walked over to D2 as well and hugged him as well.

Dawkins joined the hug as well, letting D2 get it out of his system as D1 patted his back.

After a few minutes, D2 seemed to calm down a bit and not long after that he said "I've got a lot to think about, thank you guys for letting me know..."

"Of course D2, if you need me or D1 we're just one call away I promise," D3 said with a sigh. He was a bit surprised D2 had held himself together as well as he had all things considered.

"Dante and Delgado are taking things from here..." D1 said and patted his brother's back.

"Yeah, and don't worry D2. We'll have the kids over before you know it," Dawkins said with a smile.

"Thanks, guys... I don't know what I would do without you" D2 said with a small smile before he continued with "I need a nap, I'm not even tired that much but these last several minutes have been very mentally taxing and I need a bit of a reset if you know what I mean".

"Yeah, D3, and I will get going and let Dawkins take this from here. Just get some rest, bro," D1 said as he got ready to leave and Dawkins nodded at that.

"We'll call you if we need you, but I think once the shock wears off he'll be fine," Dawkins said as he waved at the other two Dimitris.

"Alright see you around, take care," D3 said waving goodbye as he left.

D2 waved back and once his brothers were gone he walked to their room without a word and laid down.

Dawkins went and laid down with D2, stroking his fur as they laid on the bed.

Soon enough D2 was fast asleep cuddled up with Dawkins.


	13. Out of Their Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dante and Delgado finally meet with Joan to decide the pups' future

Delilah sat in a chair as Dante sat on the sofa with Delgado. "I want to discuss everything with you before you two do anything. I understand why you two wouldn't want to help her, but you need to handle this with care," Delilah said with a gentle voice.

"We understand, mom. We'll try to handle this delicately, we have no evidence she mistreats the kids in any way... But, we also know from all we heard and experienced that she's going to hide things she doesn't want us to know..." Dante said as he thought everything over.

"We're going about this as delicately as we can, especially with how we word what's going on in front of the kids," Delgado said with a sigh.

"Yep, and from what we gathered she isn't in the best of shape in any way... Also, it seems from someone who has known her for a bit that mentally she'll seem out of it and suffer bouts of amnesia for some reason... Well... We know the reason but I'm quoting them," Dante said with a shrug and sighed.

"This is really a bizarre situation, I feel bad for her but I just can't bring myself to help her. I'll be honest with you about that fact," Delilah told them as she took in the information.

"Hopefully we can get this settled quickly without any trouble," Delgado said, nuzzling Dante and thinking everything over.

"Yeah, we'll be meeting with her soon to talk things over... I had someone talk with her about giving us full custody and we'll meet up later today... She has the kids with her to spend the day with them but we did talk with her recently and it seems she only remembers waking up from a three-month coma..." Dante added as he looked at the time.

"If you say so, Dante... Keep me updated you two..." Delilah said and got up, feeling that she said all she needed to.

"Will do mom, see you later," Delgado said, waving her goodbye.

"See you, mom. Love you," Dante said waving as she left, smiling as he felt confident about this.

"Love you too, dears," Delilah said with a smile and left, feeling they'd handle everything just fine.

Delgado waved their mother off as she left and with a sigh, he said "What time do we need to meet up with Joan about her signing those papers again Dante?"

"About an hour, I made sure we had the right people to oversee things. I'm sure everything will go fine, I think we're being as fair as we can here," Dante said as he got up to get ready.

Delgado nodded at that and went to get ready as well not having much to say at the moment.

After they got ready they went outside and began to walk their destination in silence.

Delgado didn't say a word the whole way there which said something in of itself and eventually, they made it to where they were going.

"Alright, as much as I'd love to just throw her out a window... We need to be civil about this..." Dante said talking more to himself as they got to the building they were meeting at.

Delgado just nodded at that as they went in.

Joan was waiting for them, the kids looking a bit upset that their mother was leaving. "It'll be alright, kids. They'll take care of you I promise, mommy has to go somewhere far away now," Joan said as she gave the kids one last hug before sitting at the desk with the paper already signed by her.

Dante sat down as well and got ready to sign as the kids watched. He didn't feel there was much to say to Joan, and at least she was willing to go through with this without a fight.

Delgado just watched and waited for his turn to sign the papers not sure what to say but like Dante, he was glad Joan wasn't fighting this.

Once the papers were signed, Joan stood up and walked over to the pups. "You three be good and listen to your new parents, you'll be better off with them. I've done some very regrettable things and must pay the price for that... I love you three, but this is goodbye..." Joan said with a sad smile.

"We love you, momma! Do you really have to go?" the three pups said in unison as Dante let them have their moment.

"Yes, sadly there are some things that have to be," Joan said with a sigh as she hugged the pups, crying a bit and giving them one last kiss goodbye.

Delgado stayed silent and let them have their moment as well. He was having mixed feelings about all this but he wasn't going to say anything.

"Alright, you three will understand one day but this is goodbye..." Joan said and walked out followed by another dog that had accompanied her, deciding to walk out with grace and knew this would be the last they all saw of her.

Dante watched the kids waving goodbye to Joan, feeling a bit uneasy about this but knew it had to be done.

Once Joan was gone Delgado said: "come on kids, let's get you home".

The kids nodded and followed Dante and Delgado, Dante figured they'd be upset but felt they would at least be glad to have seen their mother one last time.

They walked back home in silence for the most part and before they knew it they were there "I guess we'll have to get Dawkins to get our paw scanner to register their paws for the lock".

"Yeah, we'll get him to do that soon for now let them get things out of their system I guess..." Dante said with a sigh as the pups got on the sofa.

Delgado nodded at that and sat nearby them and closed his eyes for a minute just thinking everything over.

Dante and the kids sat in silence, it was uncomfortable but at least everything was done. He knew the kids wouldn't be happy but they were too young to understand the full story.

After a while Delgado got up and said "I'm going to go mom Dante to let her know how it went".

"Alright, I'll watch the kids and get them something to eat," Dante said and got up to head to the kitchen.

Delgado nodded at that and went to his and Dante's room before taking his phone and calling Delilah.

"Hello, how'd it go?" Delilah asked, having answered almost immediately.

"She didn't fight it at all, she even had the papers signed by the time we were there," Delgado said with a sigh "after that she said her goodbyes to the kids and we brought them home, Dante is getting them something to eat as we speak"

"Well, that's good... How are the pups taking it?" Delilah said a bit concerned, glad there wasn't much trouble at least.

"They're a bit upset that they aren't going to see her again for a long time but other than that they're fine," Delgado said looking at the ceiling "Joan didn't try to put the blame on us or anything like that which I will admit I was a bit worried about".

"Yeah, that's good... Though, I'm sure those three are going to be upset for a while, until recently she's all they had," Delilah said with a sigh, knowing this situation was difficult.

"We'll do our best for them, I'm sure they'll come around sooner or later," Delgado said, sounding hopeful.

"They will, it'll be much easier if they saw her accept it and got to at least speak to her before she left," Delilah said, feeling the pups just needed some time for now.

"Yeah you're right, anyway that's pretty much everything, see you later mom," Delgado said getting ready to hang up.

"See you, sweetie... I can let the others know if you want..." Delilah offered, feeling he should focus on his family right now and got ready to hang up as well.

"Thanks, mom I'd appreciate it if you let everyone know for us," Delgado said as he hung up and went to the kitchen.

Dante had managed to get the kids to eat, though they were slower than usual and weren't looking at Dante.

Delgado sat down next to Dante and wanted to say something but nothing came to mind.

Dante wasn't sure what to say either, just letting the house stay silent and knew it was going to be rough the next couple of weeks.


	14. A Night in Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DJ and Da Vinci want to make their trip something they'll never forget.

DJ looked out at the Paris skyline, wagging his tail. He happily looked at the night sky from the Eiffel tower.

"Oh my Dog, the view is breathtaking up here, I would one hundred percent make a painting of this if they would have let me bring my supplies up here," Da Vinci said wagging her tail as well as she leaned her head on DJ's shoulder "oh well, I'll just have to paint it from memory later~".

"The movies don't do this any justice~ But, you might~," DJ said with a smirk and put his arm around Da Vinci. They'd be back home in a few days, but so far this trip had been amazing and he almost didn't want it to end.

"I wouldn't trade any of this for the world~ Hard to think we're hundreds of miles away from our family~" DJ added as he kissed Da Vinci's forehead.

Da Vinci giggled a bit and said "I know what you mean~ this trip has been amazing~ and with all those pictures we've taken I'm sure we'll remember it forever~ actually we should get one of this view before we go and not just because I want to paint it~".

"Yes, we should~ I want to always remember this~" DJ said and got out a camera, grinning as he got it set up. "Also, I've been thinking about it and I'm more than ready for pups when you are~" DJ added as he got ready to take the picture.

"You know what? I'm ready too~ we can show them this picture and tell them this was taken right when we decided to have them which I think will be a nice story~" Da Vinci said just before DJ took the picture.

"I agree, love~ But, let's save that for when we get home~," DJ said and took a few more pictures of the view. He then positioned himself and Da Vinci for the scene to be in the background as he took a picture of him embracing his wife.

Da Vinci smiled for the picture and nuzzled DJ. Going out of her way to show how happy they were together since she knew years later they'd be showing this to their kids.

DJ was smiling as well, loving the thought of telling their kids about all of this. He'd leave out certain bits of course but had plenty to talk about when they got back.

Once they got done taking the picture Da Vinci said "alright DJ~ what do you want to do now?~ there's still a few more of those art museums I'd like to visit before we go home~".

"Yes, we should get to those while we can~ We have a flight to catch in a few more days~ After that we get to the fun part~," DJ said with a wink and kissed her cheek.

Da Vinci giggled a bit at that as they went to go down "you're acting like our sex life isn't already extremely active~" she said teasing him a bit.

"I'm always excited to have fun with you, love~ Though, we won't have as much free time with pups and you'll need to recover so I just want to enjoy every minute alone with you until then~," DJ said and grinned as from an idea he just had, suddenly slapping Da Vinci's rump playfully.

Da Vinci was a bit surprised but still moaned a bit from the slap "DJ~ you know we're in public~".

"But, I know you loved that dear~" DJ said with a wink, and chuckled as he hugged Da Vinci.

Da Vinci hugged him back and said "you know me too well~" and with that, she gave him a kiss.

"Alright, what do you want to go do after this?~," DJ asked and kissed her back, wanting to see what she was ready to do.

"Maybe check out one of those museums or we could go get something to eat first, up to you," Da Vinci said with a smile "actually... once we're back in our hotel if you're up for it we could try for our first batch of puppies right here in France~ I brought the pills just in case but I haven't been taking them since we've been so busy with other things~"

"Oh, that explains plenty~ And you know what that'll make this even more special~ But, let's eat and then go to a museum~," DJ said more than happy to do as Da Vinci suggested.

Da Vinci giggled a bit and nodded at that as they finally got to the elevator and said "sounds good to me~".

"Dog, I'm already so excited about all this and make this trip even more amazing to remember~," DJ said with a grin as he entered the elevator and wagged his tail.

"Same here~ I'm really hoping this takes if you know what I mean~," Da Vinci said as they started to go down.

"I agree~ I'll try not to think about our 'fun' so I'm not 'showing off' for all to see~," DJ said with a laugh as they got down to the restaurant area of the Eiffel tower.

Da Vinci giggled at that and then they went to go get something to eat.

DJ went ahead and ordered as they got seated, just enjoying the moment with Da Vinci.

Da Vinci nuzzled DJ as they waited for their food to be served and closed her eyes just enjoying the moment with DJ as well.

DJ nuzzled her back and once the food came, ate in silence just wanting to enjoy their meal in silence.

Da Vinci got to eating as well and didn't say anything either.

DJ noticed a slow song playing as some couples danced when they got done eating and decided he'd an extra detail to this night. "Care for a dance, my lady~," DJ said and got up holding a paw out for her.

Da Vinci took it without a second thought and said "Of course DJ~".

DJ smiled and got to dancing with her right away, so far this trip had been perfect and they both had been having the time of their lives. "I can see why France is called the land of romance~," DJ said as he danced with his wife slowly and gently with the song.

"I can too love~," Da Vinci said as she closed her eyes and leaned her head on DJ's chest as he led them along.

DJ closed his eyes as he held Da Vinci close, feeling as if the moment could last forever. He managed to take a picture of them dancing as the song came to an end.

"I'm glad we did that~ that'll be a good picture to look back on~ nice thinking~," Da Vinci said as they got ready to leave.

"Yep~ We'll be thinking about this night for a long time~," DJ said as they got their things before heading to the elevator.

Da Vinci nodded and smiled at that and helped get their things before they went the elevator and began to head the rest of the way down.

Once they got down, they headed to a nearby museum they hadn't been to yet. DJ was happy to go, enjoying spending time with Da Vinci in any way.

Once they got there Da Vinci looked around at everything happy as can be and wagging her tail like crazy.

DJ loved Da Vinci's enthusiasm as they explored the museum, he was enjoying it himself if he was honest. Da Vinci would gush about a painting and he'd listen intently.

They kept going albeit slowly as Da Vinci stopped to look at pretty much everything and it was clear as day how much she was enjoying herself.

It took a bit but eventually, they circled around to where they came in. "Looks like that was everything, love~," DJ said as they went to the exit.

"That was nice~ even gave me a bit of inspiration for a few paintings~," Da Vinci said as they left "anything else you want to do before we head back to the hotel?~"

"Not that I can think of~ I'm too excited for our next 'discussion'~," DJ said with a smirk and chuckled as he nuzzled Da Vinci.

Da Vinci giggled as she nuzzled him back and said "they let's hurry back~ I can't wait either~".

"Hehe~ Of course, love~," DJ said and kissed her, making their way back and ready for the last part of their evening.

They walked in silence on the way there but Da Vinci couldn't stop wagging her tail the whole time and soon enough they were there.

DJ had been wagging his tail as well, not wasting time getting in the elevator with Da Vinci.

Da Vinci giggled a bit and leaned her head on DJ's shoulder as they went up to their floor.

DJ put an arm around Da Vinci, it felt like forever before they got to their floor. Once they did he went to their room and opened the door for Da Vinci.

Da Vinci gave him a kiss as she stepped inside and waited for DJ to close the door before she climbed onto the bed and presented herself to him "let's make this trip one to really remember love~".

"All ready to go, love~," DJ said and mounted her, pushing his rod deep into her cookie.

"Oh Dog~," Da Vinci said moaning a bit "Don't hold back DJ~ give me everything you've got~".

DJ playfully bit her ear and pushed her down thrusted hard as soon as she said that. His throbbing cock being gripped by her tightness as he grunted and slammed against her ass with every thrust. "You're gonna have my puppies bitch~ Aren't you?~" DJ said, wanting to give her his best especially tonight.

"Yes~ breed me like the alpha you are you stud~," Da Vinci said moaning like crazy already.

DJ began slapping her ass with each thrust, hitting sweet spots without even trying at this point. He was thrusting like crazy, howling in ecstasy as he pounded her pussy to oblivion.

Da Vinci was howling as well from all the pleasure she was feeling. She couldn't get enough of all of this and a part of her wish DJ would rut her like this all the time.

"Oh dog~ Just thought of knocking you up turns me on~," DJ said as he felt himself start getting close, his knot slapping against her pussy.

"Oh fuck~ same here love~ now give me that juicy knot~," Da Vinci said through her moans getting close as well.

"Oh fuck~" DJ let out as he slammed his knot into her and filled with his seed, howling in ecstasy from the pleasure.

Da Vinci howled as well as she came hard and her juices went all over the bed below them. Da Vinci then fell down onto the bed, her hind legs only being held up by DJ's cock.

DJ smiled and got them laying down and cuddling as he came down from his high. "Oh dog~ This night is a special one and I'm so excited to see this work~," DJ said as he wagged his tail.

Da Vinci came down from her high as well and cuddled him back before she said "Same here love~ when we get back home let's wait a bit to see if this had worked before trying again so we know for sure one way or another~".

"I understand that~ This was an amazing night either way~," DJ said and kissed her cheek as he rubbed her belly.

Da Vinci leaned into the kiss and enjoyed the belly rub and said "It sure has~ but I'm very tired after you fucking my brains out~ you really are an alpha you know~ and I love being your bitch~".

"You asked for all I had~ I love you, Da Vinci~," DJ said and closed his eyes as he hugged her tight.

"I know~ and I loved every second of it~ I love you too DJ~," Da Vinci said as she closed her eyes as well and yawned.

"I say we get some sleep~," DJ said with a smile as he yawned as well. He didn't have much more to say, he was excited now more than he was earlier.

Da Vinci smiled and nodded at that and soon enough she was fast asleep, loving how the day had gone.

DJ wasn't far behind her, ready to get home to see if this worked but wanted to enjoy the rest of their trip before then.


	15. Giving Him a Chance

Dante had talked it over with Delgado, apparently, D2 had been very broken up about not getting to have the kids visit. Dawkins had talked to Dante about it, and Dante decided to give D2 a chance.

The kids had started to perk up a little, but it was obvious they missed their mom, and that was another concern Dante had.

D2 was sitting as still as he could while he waited for Dante to show up with the kids "thanks for getting me this chance Dawkins, I promise you won't regret it" D2 said to Dawkins who was sitting next to him.

"Of course, I'm concerned though as they might bring her up but you'll have to keep your cool if they do," Dawkins said and put an arm around D2, waiting on Dante himself.

"Don't worry, my old therapist taught me all kinds of tricks to deal with my anger and stay calm, the kids won't even know I have a history with her if they don't ask" D2 said leaning into Dawkins.

"I trust you, I know being told you couldn't see them really broke your heart," Dawkins said and gave D2 a kiss.

D2 kissed him back for a minute before he said "no kidding, I haven't known them for very long but I already love them, and again thanks for talking Dante into letting them come visit, I know they haven't done anything wrong and I wouldn't dare hurt them".

"I know you won't, love~ I wouldn't have even bothered if I thought any different and if you want to adopt one day so badly I really doubt you want to hurt the kids," Dawkins said and nuzzled his chest.

D2 giggled at that and smiled and nuzzled Dawkins back for a minute before they heard a knock on the front door.

"I'll get that," Dawkins said and opened the door to see Dante and Delgado with the kids. He smiled and let them in, knowing D2 had been excited all day.

"Hey, you two. Long time no see," Dante joked which got a reluctant chuckle and eye roll from Dawkins, as the pups hugged the engineer.

"Hey Dawkins, where is D2?" Delgado asked calmly. He wasn't worried about D2 at all, knowing just how much D2's therapy sessions have helped him over the years.

"I'm in the living room" D2 said, calling out to him having overheard that.

"Alright, let's go and say hi," Dante said, he did feel like they jumped the gun a bit with D2. It was a bit of a knee jerk reaction, but Dante did feel it was a bit unfair to not even let D2 see the kids.

"Hello, uncle Dawkins and uncle D2!" The kids let out and ran into the living room to greet D2.

"Hehe, I'm sure they'll have fun. Let's go and chat shall we?" Dawkins said as he led the two into the living room.

D2 smiled at the kids and said "Hey kids, why don't you give uncle D2 a hug" and with that he held out his arms for said hug as they all got into the living room.

The kids gave him a hug without a second thought, Dante saw this and so did Dawkins who smiled.

Dante did feel a bit guilty seeing this, seeing how D2 lit up from seeing the kids.

Delgado smiled at the sight as well and leaned his head on Dante's shoulder.

"So how have you kids been since I last saw you three? not getting into too much trouble I hope" D2 said laughing a bit clearly joking around with them a bit but he also knew that answer they gave could potentially be on the heavy side with what's been going on and prepared himself for it.

"Well... We've been missing mom a lot..." Tony said as they hugged D2, just being honest as the other two nodded.

"Yes, you three have been through a lot more at your age than you should've had to..." Dawkins said going over and patting their heads.

"Dawkins and D2 will take care of you guys for a couple of days, I'm sure you all will have fun," Dante said with a smile.

"I'm sure you'll see her again someday," D2 said without even a hint of how he truly felt about her and gave the three of them a nuzzle.

"She loved you and tried to make sure you three were taken care of, that's the important thing," Dawkins added with a smile as the kids nuzzled D2 back.

"Yeah, I'm sure you guys will see her again but right now I just want you three to enjoy yourselves," Dante said with a smile and took a seat.

Delgado sat down next to Dante and smiled as he watched the kids.

D2 smiled as the kids got done hugging him and pulled away from him.

"Alright, kids... Dawkins will show you where you guys will be staying... I want to talk with uncle D2 a bit," Dante said to which Dawkins shot him a pretty dirty glance, which he hoped Delgado didn't notice.

"Alright, kids follow me," Dawkins said and led the pups to the guest room they had set up for when their nieces and nephews visited.

If Delgado noticed the look Dawkins gave Dante then he was doing a very good pretending like he didn't and once the kids were out of earshot he said: "Dante what is this about?"

D2 sat there not saying a word and just waited for Dante to answer Delgado.

"D2... I'm sorry, I didn't trust you... I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions on this," Dante said deciding to apologize for not trusting D2.

"It's okay Dante I understand, I can't say I wouldn't have had the same reaction if I was you" D2 said smiling at Dante.

"Yeah, I just didn't want to risk us getting in a worse situation... But, I also know therapy made you a much better dog and you aren't that dog who'd say despicable things about our sisters behind their back anymore," Dante said with a sigh as he looked over at Delgado.

Delgado was smiling at Dante and walked up to him and nuzzled Dante and said "it's okay Dante, we all do and think we normally wouldn't when we start panic and the important thing here is that you apologized".

"Yeah don't even worry about it Dante," D2 said laughing a bit.

"If you two say so, for now I just want to let the kids have some fun to get their minds off everything," Dante said as he nuzzled Delgado back.

"I can understand that, I'll be sure they have tons of fun while they're here Dante" D2 said smiling.

"I know they will, we're going to get going so I guess we'll say goodbye before they leave," Dante said with a smile as he got up.

Delgado got up as well and stretched a bit before he said "if you need us we'll just be one phone call away".

"Alright we'll be sure to keep that in mind Delgado, Dawkins shouldn't be long," D2 said with a smile.

Dawkins came back with the pups in tow, all three looked more excited than they had been all week.

"I take it you showed them some of your inventions," Dante said with a chuckle as they pups ran up and hugged their dad.

"Oh only a few small things, though they seemed interested," Dawkins said and laughed a bit.

D2 giggled a bit and walked over to Dawkins and nuzzled him and whispered to him "Dante just wanted to apologize to me" unlike Delgado D2 had seen the look on Dawkins's face and wanted to clear the air right away.

Delgado hugged the kids as well and said "okay kids, be good for your uncles, we'll be back in a few days".

"Very well," Dawkins whispered back and kissed D2's cheek. "Be safe you two," Dawkins said as he waved to Delgado and Dante.

"We will, bye dads!" The kids said as they gave Dante and Delgado a kiss goodbye.

"Alright, see you two later," Dante said and made his way to the door.

"Bye, see you later," Delgado said, waving them goodbye as they left.

D2 waved back and once the door was closed he said "so have you kids ate yet? it's just about time me and Dawkins eat" he was avoiding using a trigger word not sure if they had that registered yet or not.

"Oh, we ate earlier but they normally feed us again about this time," Tina said and wagged her tail. Her brothers did as well, ready to eat again.

"We'll call when it's ready, make yourselves at home," Dawkins said with a warm smile as he went to the kitchen.

D2 followed Dawkins to the kitchen to help him get everything ready.

"How are you feeling, D2?" Dawkins asked, wanting to check up on him as they got dinner ready.

"I'm alright, I only really had any trouble when they brought up their mom and even then I knew I needed to tough it out and comfort them," D2 said as they went, sounding like he was fine.

"Alright, if you need me to take the reins for any reason just let me know..." Dawkins said just figuring he'd give D2 the option. They had got done with all five bowls of kibble and set them on the table soon enough.

"I'll keep that in mind love," D2 said as they finished up.

"Don't worry, most of it is all of us shaken up from this whole situation," Dawkins said he got ready to call the pups.

D2 nodded at that and called out to the kids by saying "okay kids it's time for dinner".

With that, the three were in the kitchen and sat down in their place before Dawkins could even register this.

D2 giggled at that and was glad he avoided saying the trigger word earlier and got to eating.

Dawkins grinned and giggled as well, sitting down to eat with the other four. He knew they both could handle three pups, they'd looked after pups before and he knew it was part of why D2 wanted to adopt one day.

D2 ate in silence just enjoying the moment. He was looking forward to adopting but there were a few things they needed to do first, for now, just looking after their nephews and niece was enough even if he wished to never see their mother again.

Dawkins ate in silence as well with a smile as the pups, no one saying a word as they just enjoyed the kibble.

Once they all got done eating D2 said "do you kids want to watch a movie?"

"Yeah, yeah, we'd love to!" The pups said, sounding very excited about watching a movie.

"Alright, you three. We'll see what we have," Dawkins said and got up as the pups headed for the living room.

D2 followed them and was glad the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves so far.

Dawkins went to look for a movie as the pups sat down, just glad they were enjoying themselves as well.

D2 sat down and cuddled up with the kids knowing whatever he picked, it would be a good one.

The kids happily cuddled D2 back as Dawkins put the movie on and went over to cuddle with them, smiling as they did.

They all watched in silence happy to just be spending time together.


	16. Chapter 16

Dimitri 1 had thought it over and felt it was about time he and Destiny had a date, but he needed a babysitter for the pups. He wasn't sure who to ask but did feel he needed to think it over.

Destiny came into their room after getting the kids to go play outside "hey D1, what are you thinking about?" she asked sitting down next to him on their bed.

"I was thinking after all that, I really just want a day or two with you. I was thinking about a date night, but we'll need someone to look after the kids," D1 said, wanting to hear her thoughts, feeling like he needed a mental break after recent events.

"Well that sounds like it would be nice, and it came at a good time, mom just called to say she was getting some days off soon and wanted to know if our kids could come visit," Destiny said nuzzling D1.

"Perfect timing," D1 said with a chuckle and wrapped his arms around Destiny. "I feel we ended up being too harsh on D2 after all, I called Dawkins earlier he said those pups hadn't stopped playing with D2 since he arrived," D1 said with a warm smile and a sigh.

"I guess we should have trusted him a bit more..." Destiny said as she leaned against D1 "D2 had seemed pretty stable for years now... oh well I'm sure he won't hold against us, and I'm glad he's having fun with Dante's kids".

"He won't, he's forgiven us for worse..." D1 said not caring to elaborate but knew he didn't have to. "Joan is the only one I think he'll never truly be able to forgive... Not sure I can either..." D1 said and kissed Destiny's cheek.

Destiny kissed him back and said: "well I can't say I blame either of you, I've made how I felt about what she did to D2 pretty clear".

"Yes, you have... I kinda wish I hadn't let my curiosity get the best of me, but I feel it was better that way then if D2 was the one to see her," D1 said and was thinking that one over.

"Don't beat yourself up over this love" Destiny said as she nuzzled him "I feel like this was for the best like you said if D2 had seen her before everyone knew who she was there's no telling what would have happened".

"He nearly flew into a rage when we told him at first..." D1 said and took a deep breath before smiling. "But, it's done now, and while it may have been a bit extreme but it needed to be done," D1 said as he cuddled with Destiny.

Destiny nodded at that and cuddled D1 back before she said "so~ what do you want to do while the kids are gone?~ and speaking of which how do you feel about having some more?~"

"Oh I think a few more wouldn't be a problem~," D1 said with a grin, already knowing where she was going with this.

"Good~ I'll be sure to get off of Dawkins pills in time for when the kids go visit their grandparents~," Destiny said giving him a kiss "where do want to knock me up at?~ no one around for miles so we have a lot of kinky options if you're down for that~".

"Been a while since we had some really kinky fun~ I'll need to think on it a bit~," D1 said as he gave her ass a squeeze, smirking but trying not to get too excited in case they had a visitor.

Destiny moaned a bit at him squeezing her ass and said "it's been way too long if you ask me~ but I'm sure whatever you decide will be amazing~".

"Hehe~ Let's think about it when we aren't in danger of being interrupted~," D1 said and gave Destiny a kiss, wanting to go further but wasn't going to risk the kids seeing or hearing anything they shouldn't.

"Hehe~ alright love~" Destiny said as she kissed him back and then closed her eyes.

"For now, I'll check on the kids while you take a nap~ Love you~," D1 said and gave her a kiss before starting to get up.

"Alright D1, see you later~," Destiny said, waving him goodbye before laying down and going to sleep.

D1 smiled at that and went to check on the kids, wanting to spend time with them as well.


	17. Family Dinner

Dora sighed as she looked at the ceiling and rolled a ball around in her paws, she was feeling a lot better and was waiting on D3 to return home.

After a while, D3 got back from work and let himself in with the paw scanner before he said "Dora? I'm home".

"Welcome home, sweetie~ How was your day?~" Dora said as she got up to greet him with a smile and wagging her tail.

D3 walked up to her and kissed her before he said "It was alright~ how was yours love?~"

"Cleaned the house, after that I was pretty bored and was thinking about talking to you about adopting soon," Dora said and kissed him back, smiling as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm down for adopting if you are Dora but are you sure you're ready?" D3 asked, nuzzling her.

"I still want to think about it a little, but I feel like I've calmed down enough to talk about it," Dora said and nuzzled him back.

D3 nodded at that and said: "alright fair enough Dora, I love you".

"I love you too, also Dawkins invited us over for dinner. I told him I'd ask if you felt like going," Dora said and released the hug, sitting on the couch.

"Oh that sounds like it would be nice, we should go," D3 said as he sat down next to her.

"Alright, I'll call him and let them know. The kids are still there but Delgado and Dante will be picking them up tomorrow," Dora said as she cuddled with D3.

D3 cuddled her back and said: "I wish I had more faith in D2, he seems to be doing very well with Dante's kids..."

"Yeah... To be honest, I feel bad for not trying to be more understanding with Dante and not supporting D2..." Dora said with a sigh, feeling a bit guilty about not trying to be reasonable about things.

"It's okay Dora, I'm sure Dante and D2 won't hold it against you so let's just try and learn from this and move on," D3 said putting an arm around her and pulling her close to him.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll do better moving forward. It was just that no one saw this coming, and well... I admit I was tempted to attack Joan myself..." Dora said with a giggle, in a way she found it amusing but for a brief moment when she saw Joan she'd felt a wave of anger she'd never felt towards anyone before.

"I can't say I blame you," D3 said with a sigh thinking everything over "what time did Dawkins say to be over again?"

"About 6, so we have a little time," Dora said with a smile, figuring he'd want to rest a little.

D3 nodded and said: "Alright then, I think I'm going to rest my eyes for a bit" and with that, D3 laid down before closing his eyes.

Dora already had a nap and was just going to let D3 rest a bit as she went to find a book to read.

Soon enough D3 was fast asleep and time passed him by as he dreamed peacefully.

Dora kept reading until it was time to get ready to go and went in to wake D3 up, careful not to make too much noise as she walked over to him.

As Dora woke D3 up he yawned a bit before saying "and I was having the best dream too... time to go love?"

"Just about, we should get ready so we aren't late. What was the dream about?~" Dora said as she nuzzled his neck.

D3 got up and said: "alright let's get ready then, and I was dreaming of us cuddled up together under a tree in the middle of the night while the full moon was visible without a single cloud in the sky, felt like time was standing still as well and we were there forever~".

"Sounds lovely~ Maybe we can make it true one day~," Dora said and gave him a kiss as she went to get ready.

"I'd like that~," D3 said and kissed her back as he went to go get ready as well.

"Alright, should be good to go," Dora said and walked to the door, happy to go visit Dawkins and her brother.

D3 nodded at that and they walked out the door and started to make their way to Dawkins and D2's place in silence.

It was a nice silent walk, luckily Dawkins and D2 didn't live too far away from them but it was still a decent walk to their house.

Once they got there D3 knocked on the door and said "Dawkins? D2? we're here".

Dawkins smiled and let them in, wagging his tail as he seemed to be in a great mood. "Hello, you two we've been waiting on you I'm sure it'll be fun," Dawkins said and laughed as he let Dora and D3 inside.

"Hey Dawkins, how have Dante's kids been?" D3 said as they came inside and once they made it to the living room they saw D2 playing with the kids.

"They've really been enjoying themselves, and D2 and I have definitely been having a blast with them around," Dawkins said as they went into the living room.

Dora went and took a seat just wanting to watch the kids play with D2, they all seemed to really be enjoying spending time together.

"Hey D3, glad you could make it," D2 said waving at his brother as they sat down still playing with the kids.

"Of course D2, I always enjoy spending time with you and Dawkins," D3 said with a smile on his face.

"Yep, definitely nice to spend time with family," Dora said with a smile and gave a quiet sigh watching her nephews and niece playing with D2, she wasn't sure what exactly she felt watching them but she felt queasy and wasn't sure why.

"D2 has really been doing great with the pups and really has seemed to be helping them cope with things which is great," Dawkins said with a smile, not noticing Dora.

"That's good, I'm glad they're enjoying themselves," D3 said with a smile before noticing how Dora was doing and leaned towards her to whisper "you okay love?"

"I don't know what's wrong... I'll just try to ignore it... And yeah it's good that they've been having fun," Dora said with a smile as she tried to ignore the feeling, not sure where it even came from.

"Well, if you need a minute or something feel free to go to another room to calm yourself down," Dawkins said and patted Dora's back, knowing Dora well enough.

"Yeah go wash your face with some water in the bathroom while you're at it, I kind of want to ask Dawkins something in private anyway," D3 said stroking Dora's back trying to calm her down a bit.

"Will do..." Dora said and went to the bathroom, not sure what had happened.

"Alright, let's go to my room and chat. D2 will be fine with the kids as you can see," Dawkins said as he led D3 into his room.

D3 nodded at that and didn't say a word until they were in Dawkins and D2's room where no one could hear them "So Dawkins you remember how I had asked years ago for you to maybe try and study genetics and biology as a side thing? you know, before we knew about Dora being infertile? well... I was thinking... is there a way that could still be useful?"

"Depends, though she still goes into heat so it is possible that I might be able to make something that can increase her chances however I doubt I'd be able to make something that could prevent a genetic defect much less have both pills be able to work together," Dawkins said as he thought it over, hoping D3 understood that even he couldn't overcome every problem.

D3 sighed and said: "I was afraid you would say that... thanks for being honest Dawkins, I know adoption is still an option but I know how much this is eating away at Dora..."

"I'm sure... I can try to still make something for her... There are formulas for fertility pills... I'd just have to make them more dog friendly..." Dawkins said and hugged D3. "I take it you think seeing the pups playing upset her?" Dawkins asked, not denying that it was possible.

"Alright Dawkins I'd appreciate that, and I don't think she realizes that's what it is if so but I think it is," D3 said looking up at the ceiling thinking everything over.

"Well, I'll see what I can do. I'll let you know if I make any progress soon, but it'll be a bit before I can guarantee anything," Dawkins said with a sigh, wishing he could give D3 more hopeful news.

"Alright, thanks again Dawkins, Dora had mentioned talking about adopting soon so I'll have to tell her that you're working on that soon," D3 said with a sigh "let's head back to the living room before Dora gets back".

Dawkins nodded at that and noticed Dora was laying on the floor as Tina cuddled up to her and told Dora about herself while her brothers continued to wrestle with D2.

D3 laid down next to Dora and nuzzled her before he said "hey love, I see you're getting to know our niece".

"Yep, we've just been talking about what it's like growing up with a bunch of brothers," Dora said with a giggle and nuzzled Tina.

"I've been wanting to get to know Aunt Dora a bit as well," Tina said as Dora put an arm around her.

"That's great you two, give me a minute we'll eat alright," Dawkins said with a smile and went to the kitchen.

"Alright Dawkins," D3 said with a smile "So Tina, feel free to ask us anything".

"What do you do?" Tina asked, not really sure what to ask but was curious as she looked up at D3.

"I work as a security guard at a local airport," D3 said with a chuckle "it pays well enough and most of the time it's actually pretty relaxed, do get a few crazies trying to bring something on board when they shouldn't though".

"Crazies?" Tina asked with a bit of confusion in her voice.

"Just a few people who are being bad and not following rules," Dora said and patted Tina's head.

"Yeah pretty much what Dora said, don't worry about it too much," D3 said with a chuckle glad that Dora thought quickly there.

Dora gave D3 a playful nudge at that, knowing he realized he slipped up a little there.

"Can I come to your house to visit one day?" Tina asked Dora happily and nuzzled Dora.

"Well, I don't see why not, what do you think Dora?" D3 said not wanting to tell her no but he was a bit worried about Dora.

"I don't have a problem with it," Dora said with a smile and ruffled Tina's fur.

Tina smiled at that and just curled up next to Dora and after a few Dawkins called for dinner.

D3 got up as the kids ran to the dinner table and said "come on love~ let's go eat".

Dora followed along and sat down with everyone, ready to eat herself.

"So Dawkins how has work been treating you?" D3 said just making conversation as they all got to eating.

"Pretty well, things have been going great. How's your job D3?" Dawkins asked as they all ate.

"It's been going well, did you know that they let us dog security guards have the food we find from passengers trying to smuggle some on the planes?" D3 said with a laugh. He had been surprised by that when he first joined and was trying not to gain too much weight because of it.

"Hehe, just try not to enjoy the food too much," Dawkins said with a laugh and went back to eating.

The others just listened and enjoyed their meal, not feeling the need to say much.

"Hehe, I'll try not to," D3 said chuckling and got to eating in silence.

"Oh, and I've been working on a dog translator so we can speak with humans easier," Dawkins added remembering he'd wanted to share that.

"Oh wow really? I'm not even going to ask how that works as I know most of the explanation will just go over my head but I'm really looking forward to that" D3 said as he thought that over "that'll make so many things easier oh my Dog".

"It may make things awkward at first, but it'll definitely be worth it, I feel," Dawkins said with a grin as he finished his kibble.

"Yeah no kidding, but I have to agree that will be for the best," D3 said finishing eating as well "you'll one hundred percent have your name written in the history books for this invention alone for sure".

"I'm sure, I'd definitely get plenty of money for it," Dawkins said and looked over to D2 before nuzzling his neck.

Dora just giggled at that and just watched the kids finish eating and couldn't deny being curious about seeing how that invention would work.

"Anyways I'd love to stay but it's getting late and I need to be up early tomorrow for work," D3 said getting up from the table.

"I understand that fortunately, I have a day off tomorrow. We can't all be D1 unfortunately," Dawkins teased a little with a giggle, as he got up as well.

"Yeah, though I can't say much about staying home all day," Dora said with a giggle as well and made her way to the door.

D3 laughed a bit at that and said "it was fun, see you guys later" and with that him and Dora went out the front door and went home.


	18. Digging Up Diamonds

Deja Vu was headed off to check on Diesel, while her sisters had moved out she'd ended up staying with her mother to help around the house.

She had been getting close to Diesel and while she never really got too involved in the family secret, she'd known everyone had left Diesel out and that bothered her a little even if she knew why.

Diesel was in his room just hanging out for the time being. Puberty had hit him like a truck, long gone was the chubby kid he used to be and in his place was a very big and muscular Dalmatian.

He was still his carefree self as he had ever been and he never really grew out of his digging habit but he was now taking steps to not cause any trouble with it these days and actually started to take baths when he was done.

"Hey, Diesel mind if I come in?" Deja Vu asked and knocked on his door, she did appreciate that Diesel did try his best to stay clean and not cause too much trouble.

"Come on in Deja Vu, I wasn't doing anything anyway," Diesel said as he opened the door for her and smiled as she walked in.

Deja Vu smiled at that and walked in, hugging Diesel before closing the door behind her.

Diesel hugged her back and sat down in the middle of his room before he said "so what's up Deja Vu? you look like you've got something you want to say".

"Just wanted to check on you and see what you were up to," Deja Vu said and set down next to him, smiling as she thought of where to go with this conversation.

"Oh well I'm alright, I was just relaxing a bit before you came by, how have you been?" Diesel said cheerfully as could be.

"I've been good, though it does get pretty lonely when everyone else seems to have gone to do other things," Deja Vu admitted to him, still not sure she wanted to go further with this.

"Yeah pretty much everyone has left and got married," Diesel said with a laugh "I do miss them but I'm happy for them I really am".

"Same here, I never really got involved in the family secret much," Deja Vu said with a shrug, figuring Diesel would've figured it out now as even he wasn't that clueless.

Diesel laughed at that and said "I know very well you didn't, trust me on that" he had said that clearly, he knew more than what he was saying.

"Hmm, so did you ever find out about the family secret?" Deja Vu asked, feeling a bit curious and figured they'd talk about it as she had been interested in bringing it up.

"Oh I knew the whole time what was going on Deja Vu, I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but you guys need to give me a bit more credit," Diesel said chuckling to himself "I've got the best nose in the family and with all the sounds coming from everyone's rooms it didn't take me long to put two and two together, it started with just Dylan and Dolly but before I knew it almost everyone was involved one way or another".

"Yeah, things got a bit out of hand after a while," Deja Vu said with a giggle and hugged him. "Hopefully you didn't feel too upset about getting left out," Deja Vu said and patted his back.

Diesel hugged her back and said "Don't worry about me Deja Vu, I didn't really have much of a sex drive until recently so it was much more fun teasing everyone when they thought I didn't know anything about what they were doing" with that he started laughing hard as he remembers all the times he caught his siblings just as they got done having their fun and making them think they had barely avoided spilling the beans with him.

"Hehe, oh the dirt we have on them for when the pups grow up. So have you been Interested in anyone recently?" Deja Vu asked, feeling a little curious.

"We do have plenty to embarrass them with... and well... there is someone but..." Diesel said trailing off not wanting to say who it was.

"Oh come on, don't leave me hanging~ Boy or girl?~" Deja Vu asked and stroked his fur teasingly.

Diesel was blushing like crazy at this point as he said "it's a girl, we've gotten pretty close lately..." he wasn't sure how much more obvious he could make it be at this point.

"You have? How long have you known her?~" Deja Vu said, having a feeling who it was but didn't want to make a guess just yet.

"For as long as I can remember honestly, you might have guessed from that answer that she's a part of the family..." Diesel said really not wanting to be having this talk.

"I'm sure she's thought of you too~," Deja Vu said and kissed his cheek.

Diesel chuckled a bit and said: "you've put it together that I'm talking about you haven't you?"

"Well, even I'm not that clueless and I'm the only one you seem to really open up to," Deja Vu said and giggled, patting his back.

"Yeah I know, and I wasn't _exactly_ trying to hide it when you started asking those questions..." Diesel said with a smile "so uh, I really do like you Deja Vu, what do you say to maybe joining our siblings in the family secret? even if it's not much of a secret anymore, I mean Dylan and Dolly getting married kind of gave it away back when that whole thing happened".

"Oh don't remind me, I can't tell you how much that whole thing almost went south quickly," Deja Vu admitted and shook her head, more than happy to go ahead with this. "Just want to take things slow first, I'm sure that'll be fine though," Deja Vu said with a smile.

"Alright Deja Vu, I'm more than fine with that" Diesel said and gave her a nuzzle.

"Also, I feel we should hold off on announcing it for now," Deja Vu said and nuzzled him back.

"Oh? I'm more than fine doing so if you want Deja Vu but any particular reason?" Diesel asked curiously.

"Kind of want to see how long it takes for everyone to catch on," Deja Vu said with a laugh, wondering how long it would take for everyone else to figure it out.

"Oh, I can get behind that" Diesel said laughing a bit and closed his eyes before yawning a bit.

"Come on, let's take a nap," Deja Vu said and walked with him to the bed, wanting to cuddle with Diesel for a bit.

"Alright Deja Vu, I kind of wore myself out digging earlier today anyhow," Diesel said, laying down with her and cuddling up with Deja Vu.

"Hehe~ That's alright~," Deja Vu said with a smile closing her eyes and cuddling him back.

Not too much longer Diesel was fast asleep and was smiling as he was very happy with how that had gone.

Deja Vu was fast asleep soon as well, happy to have had this talk with Diesel after waiting for a long time.


	19. Confirming The Future

Da Vinci and DJ were back home for a few days now and they hadn't had any fun together since they both wanted to make sure whether or not their time in France bore fruit and sure enough, Da Vinci for the last few days had been having morning sickness.

Da Vinci was in the bathroom at the moment with a pregnancy test just to make one hundred percent sure instead of just assuming as DJ waited outside the door.

DJ couldn't sit still as much as he tried, he had been trying not to pace but he was just too excited for this and felt butterflies in his stomach as he waited.

After a few more minutes Da Vinci opened the bathroom door and walked out with the biggest smile on her face and handed DJ the pregnancy test that showed a positive reading on it before she said "looks like we're going to be parents, love~".

DJ looked at the test and the goofiest grin appeared on his face, at a loss for words as it all set in and felt a mix of emotions all at once.

Da Vinci just giggled at the look on DJ's face as he took in the news and gave him a nuzzle.

"Oh dog, I can't believe this is happening and yet we've been talking about it all week," DJ finally said as he nuzzled Da Vinci back.

"It's very surreal, to say the least," Da Vinci said giggling "I can hardly believe it myself~".

"I can't wait to tell mom and everyone, oh my dog. I love you so much," DJ said and hugged Da Vinci, seeming to still be coming to grips with the thought of being a dad.

"I love you too DJ~," Da Vinci said still giggling and hugged him back "you want to go ahead and call mom?~"

"Yeah, yeah let's go ahead and do that~," DJ said and ran to the phone wagging his tail to call Delilah, his excitement just seeming to grow at every passing minute.

Da Vinci followed behind him and was wagging her tail as well just as happy about this as he was.

Meanwhile, Delilah had just gotten back from work and was relaxing in her room when the phone rang and she quickly checked the called ID before answering it "Hello DJ how was your trip to France?"

"It was amazing! Da Vinci and I had a great time and we have wonderful news!" DJ said into the phone a bit louder than he meant but was too excited at the moment to care.

"Well someone sounds awfully excited~ what's this news you have, dear?" Delilah said having a bit of a hunch but wanted him to say it first.

"While at the Eiffel Tower we decided we wanted kids and we decided to walk around town before going back to the hotel and... I'll leave that part out, anyway we just confirmed it we're going to be parents," DJ said, still excited and Da Vinci had to elbow him in the ribs to keep from saying more than Delilah would've cared to know.

Delilah laughed at that and said "congratulations you two, you know I'm always happy to have more grandkids, so I know it's still a bit early but do you have any ideas for names yet? or do you still need time to think about that?"

"Nope, nothing yet but we'll let you know what we come up with. So, France was great and very memorable," DJ said and it was obvious he was starting to come down from the excitement if only a little.

"Alright then, and I bet it was," Delilah said with a laugh "tell Da Vinci to come by whenever she needs advice for being a mother, same goes for you and Doug DJ with being a father".

"We will, we may try to come over soon to chat a bit though I just want to spend time with Da Vinci for now," DJ said as he continued to wag his tail, getting ready to hang up.

"Alright sweetheart, I can help spread the word for you and let the rest of the family know if you want," Delilah said smiling just happy for the two of them.

"Yeah, go ahead I think. Unless Da Vinci wants to tell everyone personally?" DJ said and looked over to see if Da Vinci knew what she wanted to do.

"I don't mind mom telling everyone, go ahead," Da Vinci said and kissed DJ on the cheek.

"Alright, go ahead and talk with you again soon love you, mom," DJ said as he got ready to hang up the phone for real this time.

"Alright goodbye DJ, see you two soon," Delilah said as they both hung up.

Once he hung up, he pulled Da Vinci into a hug and gave her a deep kiss, wrestling her tongue with his.

Da Vinci closed her eyes and kissed him back as she let the rest of the world melt away for her.

DJ closed his eyes as well, holding this kiss as he stroked her fur and felt her body against his.

Da Vinci held the kiss as well and wrapped her arms around him and was loving all of this.

DJ finally had to break the kiss after a moment and panting as he caught his breath. "My mind is going a mile a minute just thinking about this," DJ said as he wagged his tail, still too excited for his own good.

Once Da Vinci had caught her breath as well she giggled before she said: "same here DJ~ I love you so much and I can't wait for this new chapter in our lives to take place~".

"Yeah, it's going to be amazing~ We have a lot to do and get ready for them~ Maybe you could design a room for them and we can paint it," DJ said as he started thinking of all the things they needed to do before the pups arrived.

"Oh painting some of our spare rooms I can definitely do~ but maybe we should wait until we find out how many we're having and how many boys and girls there are before we do that~," Da Vinci said with a laugh "In the meantime, we can make other preparations~".

"Hehe~ I guess that's true, and there are other things that should come before setting up the kids' rooms~," DJ said and kissed her.

Da Vinci kissed him back and said "Yup~ but we have plenty of time~ I say we just let the news sink in for today and cuddle for a while~".

"Yeah, yeah we should let our minds calm down~," DJ said and walked over to lay on the bed, leaving room for Da Vinci.

Da Vinci followed behind him and laid down with DJ before she said "I love you DJ~ you've made me the happiest girl in the world~".

"Oh dog, you're the only girl I'd want to have my pups~," DJ said with a kiss as he cuddled her.

Da Vinci kissed and cuddled him back before she said "I feel the same way for you DJ~ you're my one and only~".

"You are for me too, Da Vinci~ I'm going to be the best husband and father I can be," DJ said and rubbed her belly with a paw.

Da Vinci giggled and said "I love you so much DJ~ I'm going to be the best wife and mother I can be too~" she nuzzled him as she enjoyed all of this.

"I just want to take a nap with you~ I think my excitement is starting to settle down now~," DJ said with a smile and closed his eyes.

"Alright DJ~ let's get some rest~ I know actually having the kids is going to be less than pleasant but I can't wait for them to come into the world~," Da Vinci said as she closed her eyes as well.

"Yeah, that's the worst part but I know you're strong and we'll get through it~ It'll be worth it and I promised to be with you every step of the way and intend to keep that promise~," DJ said and kissed her cheek before taking a deep breath and letting himself slowly fall asleep.

Da Vinci giggled at that and kissed him back and slowly fell asleep as well with the biggest smile on her face.


	20. A Surprise Visit

D2 was sitting in front of a door to a house across town from where he lived and was hesitating to ring the doorbell. He knew this to be where Joan was living after asking some of his friends outside the family who knew nothing of his history with her. He had made sure not to let Dawkins know about any of this which he knew was going to bite him in the ass later when one of their friends eventually tells Dawkins but he would deal with that later as he took a deep breath and finally rang the bell.

It was very rundown, and it was obvious this was a pretty bad part of town. It was a moment before there was an answer. "I told you... I'd pay the money to...night..." Joan said as she opened the door and her jaw dropped and her body went pale as if she'd seen a ghost. "No... I promised to leave... please no..." Joan said and fell backward as she tried to close the door and began hyperventilating. It wasn't that beautiful smile from her faux kindness but just pure fear in her as she backed away from the door. The living room littered with bottles and other trash, as she backed up to a nearby table and reached toward to find something to defend herself.

D2 was surprised by that reaction but didn't take one step inside and raised his paws up cautiously before he said "listen I'm not here to kill you, it's been years and I've had plenty of therapy since we last met, I've moved on since then, that doesn't exactly mean I forgive you but it does mean I can be civil" he wasn't sure if this was going to calm her down any but it was all he had as he wasn't expecting this at all.

Joan reached for a bottle of pills nearby, wondering if she'd forgotten to take them. "I'm hallucinating again... I think... Did I take my medicine today? I can't remember..." Joan said but it didn't seem directed at D2, it was obvious her mental state was not the best.

D2 still not going inside saw the pill bottles and said "you never seemed to have any kind of hallucinations before I... well you know... that's my fault isn't it?" D2 sighed as he thought that over before he continued with "well I'm actually here this time... may I come in? I'm not going to step a single paw in your home unless I'm welcomed, I promise all I want to do is talk" he wasn't sure how convincing that was but he wasn't concerned about that at the moment and just wanted permission to come inside.

"I... Uh... alright..." Joan said as her body shook and she started to have a coughing fit, her pupils dilated and scratching her arm.

D2 nodded at that and stepped inside taking that as a go-ahead to do so before he said "I see you haven't been having the best of luck since we last saw each other... Do you have somewhere we can sit down? this is going to be a long talk".

"Yeah..." was all Joan said as she got up and hobbled to a couple of nearby chairs, she seemed to have a hard time moving and her fur was unkempt and matted with what looked like a few scars. She turned on a lamp and sat down, she looked as if she hadn't eaten in a while nor did she seem like she'd gotten a lot of sleep.

D2 sat down with her and said "might as well get the big question out of the way, how did you survive after I lost my shit when you told me what you did? I was pretty sure I had killed you years ago I'm not going to lie".

"I woke up five months later... Not sure why... I'd be better off dead... I barely remember much... I remember being angry with you for something... I can't remember...." Joan said as she trembled in the chair and barely acknowledged he was there, she just stared at the ground before reaching for the bottle of pills on her nightstand. "I'm sorry... I deserve to suffer... I want it to be over..." Joan said as she opened the bottle.

"You... you seem to have a lot of medication lying around... what is it all for?" D2 said having been about to have said something completely different but stopped himself at the last second.

"Painkillers... Memory medication... A few others meant to stabilize my mind...." Joan said and took a deep breath as she looked at the bottle. "I guess I brought this on myself... I treated those around me like playthings... Now, I've lost everything...." Joan said and closed her eyes.

"I... I have to know something here... did you have any malicious intent when it came to Dante? there's something I want to do but I need to be sure first so please be honest with me" D2 said as he looked her over. she seemed to be a little out of it but maybe that was for the best at the moment as he thought things over.

"Dante? I just wanted pups... I just didn't think things through... I think that's what happened... I... guess it won't matter anymore..." Joan said as she took a few of the pills.

D2 thought about that for a second and let her finish taking her pills before he got up from his seat and walked up to her before picking her up and hugged her before he said "I forgive you Joan, and I'm sorry you ended up like this" D2 had a feeling she was still thinking he wasn't actually there and figured the best way to prove otherwise was actually moving her around a bit but didn't want to hurt her so he was being super careful.

Joan dropped the bottle and the pills spilled all over the floor in her shock as she realized that this was the real thing. "I... I don't know what to say..." Joan let out as she looked around and clutched at her chest.

D2 sat her down and said "then don't say anything for a second, let me get those for you" D2 then got to work getting the pills up for about a minute or two.

Joan just looked around for a minute as she started to come to her senses. "What day is it?" She let out and was obviously coming out of the state she was in.

"It's October 17," D2 said as he got the last of the pills put up and continued with "feeling better?"

"I... I don't remember anything from the past week..." Joan said as she screamed into her paws, everything hit her like a freight train and caused her to collapse.

D2 got up and sat down next to her and started to stroke her fur, not sure what else to do at this point before he said "it's going to be okay Joan... I wasn't planning on doing this but I can't leave you like this with the way things are, come with me to Dante's place, I'm going to try and talk him into helping you again... and this time I'll be helping out as well..."

"You will? But... I gave up my rights to the pups... They can't see me like this..." Joan said as she tried to take a deep breath.

"I saw the papers you signed, nothing in it saying you can't come by just that Dante decided whether or not they come to visit, stuff like being banned from seeing them period is stuff a judge decides Joan," D2 said with a sigh "just trust me on this okay?"

"Alright... But... They can't see me like this... I need to clean myself up..." Joan said and began to stand up.

"Alright go take a bath, I'll wait here," D2 said getting up as well and sat back down in the seat Joan pulled out for him.

As Joan went to take a bath, the room was silent and eerie. Several empty pill bottles among other paraphernalia littered the floor, the light making it more clear what was going on.

"Dog this is a mess, I don't know what to even say to Dante about how and why I want to give Joan another chance let alone explaining this shit..." D2 said to himself as he waited.

Joan entered after a bit and looked to have tried her best at looking presentable. She was hoping D2 wouldn't say anything about the elephant in the room but figured that might be too much to ask.

"Joan... I'm not going to say much but if you want our help you gotta get off the drugs" was all D2 said as he got up and walked towards the door.

"....Fine... I know..." Joan said, knowing he had a point but felt that would be easier said than done. Joan followed him to the door, tired of looking at if she were honest, and grabbed bottles that were her actual prescriptions. She hesitated a bit and looked around as if she was thinking about grabbing something else before leaving.

"Joan please, I can get you into rehab if need be," D2 said as he opened the door as if he could read her mind.

"I need to be better... For them..." Joan said with a sigh as she walked out the door, ready to try and move forward in her life.

D2 walked out with her and they started to make their way to Dante's home in silence.

Dante had just put the kids in their beds as it was time for the name and went into the living room to watch tv, not expecting any company.

It felt like forever but Joan looked around and knew they were close, and in a better part of town than her dreadful apartment.

Once they got there D2 took in a deep breath and knocked on the door as he tried to think up a way to explain this to Dante and possibly Delgado as well.

"Who is it?" Dante asked as he got up and walked to the door wondering who it could be. As soon as he noticed the two dogs in front of him he fell backward on his rump and shook his head while rubbing his eyes like he was shaking himself awake.

"This a common reaction to seeing you?" Joan asked a bit confused but figured this was a bit out of the blue.

"I think this time it's more seeing us together," D2 said with a nervous laugh "look Dante I can explain... I think".

"Come to the living room and have a seat, the kids are asleep and try not to draw blood as we just got the carpets cleaned," Dante said with a hint of joking in his voice, but just waved them in and closed the door behind him.

D2 nodded at that and went to the living room without a word still trying to figure out what he was going to say here.

"Okay, first things first... Why are you with Joan? I don't really understand," Dante said with a confused expression.

"He came to my apartment... Said something wanting to help or something like that..." Joan said, sounding confused herself.

"To be clear I wasn't planning on helping her at first, I had come to get answers which didn't go too well with the state she was in when I first showed up, more on that in a second, but the longer I was there I just... I don't know... I felt sorry for her..." D2 said with a sigh as he sat on Dante's couch.

"I already know this is going to get even more complicated..." Dante said as he put his paw on his face and sighed, not even sure what to feel right now. He'd wanted her out of his life for D2's and his sake, but here D2 was with Joan who gave up the kids and sure she still was technically allowed to see them. But, he was also worried about D2 seeing her and what could have happened, and yet here the two were sitting next to each other.

"Dante look... I know this is a lot to process but I'm not that kid anymore who lashed out at all our sisters because of what happened between me and Joan anymore" D2 said with a sigh as he looked over at Dante "with the help of my therapist and the family I've come a very long way... right now I want to prove it not just for my sake but for your kids as well... Joan doesn't seem to be the same person she used to be either and the kids deserve to have their mother in their lives..."

"So, this is about that... I hated doing that to you D2... But, anyway, we'll discuss that later... Right now, I want to know how you want to help her?" Dante asked, D2 mentioned her mental state earlier but figured he'd elaborate more in a minute.

D2 sighed and said: "Well to put it bluntly we might want to get her in rehab... also get her a better living situation... her house is a mess and not to mention she's living in a bad part of town..."

"Rehab? And how bad are we talking here?" Dante asked just wanting to know for sure before saying anything.

"Yeah Joan here just came out of a stupor and can't remember anything from the last week, I don't know what drugs she's taking that's not her prescriptions exactly but it's nothing good..." D2 said with a sigh as he thought that over "and as for how bad it is let's just say I'm surprised I wasn't robbed at gunpoint as soon as I got there..."

"Alright, Joan... I will offer to help you and we'll run this by Delgado... But, do you even want help?" Dante asked, blunt and to the point with a frown.

"I don't want my children to see me like that... or to grow up in that environment... I deserve to be there... but they didn't ask for any of this..." Joan said as with a sigh, not sure what more to say.

"I don't know about you Dante but I'm choosing to believe her on this... from what I saw while she was out of it I have no reason to believe she has any ill-intent," D2 said just being honest at this point.

"We'll see what we can do... But, where will she stay... We can't send her back there if she's gonna get any better. Not to mention, are you helping her out of genuine forgiveness or is it that you want to prove you changed to us?" Dante asked D2 sternly, wanting D2 to be honest with him.

"Trust me Dante I wouldn't help someone just to prove something to you and the family, especially with her" D2 said truthfully "but that is a good point, I don't know where she'll stay... I can't just take her home with me... Dawkins doesn't even know I went to see her... and yes Dante I know everything you have to say about that already without you actually saying a word..."

"I'll trust your word on it D2, and as odd as that sounds I'll leave it alone," Dante said as he stroked his chin. "There'd be no legal problem with her staying here, we only asked for custody and not a restraining order but we'll need to wait for Delgado to discuss that. D3 and Dora would say a hard no, D1 might murder her in her sleep or not he's a changed dog, after all, mom and dad would refuse..." Dante said as he thought it over while Joan just listened and sighed.

D2 sighed and said: "maybe we should call Dawkins and ask him to come over so we can explain what's going on so I could maybe convince him to let her stay at our place... at least until we get her into rehab, I'm pretty sure those places expect you to stay there until you're better and by then we'll have figured something out that could be more permanent..."

"Yeah, we'll just do it that way... When's Dawkins getting off work?" Dante asked as he thought this over and felt this might end up being better for everyone.

"He should already be home, I told him I might have gone for a walk by the time he gets back which I have done before so I knew he'd think nothing of it..." D2 said with a sigh and felt guilt for lying to Dawkins creeping in.

"Alright, Delgado's sleeping so I'll go with you to talk with Dawkins and explain things when I get back," Dante said and got up, looking at Joan who just nodded at that and got up to follow him.

D2 nodded and got up to follow Dante as well not having anything else to say.

Dante went outside and walked with the two to Dawkins house, it was a decent walk but one that wouldn't take too long.

Once they got there D2 unlocked the door with the paw scanner and called out to Dawkins with "Dawsy? Can you come outside for a second? this is important".

"Alright, alright... Wait is that Joan?" Dawkins said and dropped the papers he was holding in shock. "What is she doing here?" He asked and looked over at Dante, in confusion as Dante sighed.

"It's a long story... We should talk," Dante said and beckoned Dawkins toward them so he could hear them out.

Once Dawkins was outside with them D2 said "I'm sorry Dawkins but I went to Joan's place and tried to ask her some questions and while that didn't work out I did end up feeling sorry for her..." he thought he'd let Dante explain from it from there.

"So, she needs rehab and to get out of a really bad area of town... And she needs somewhere to stay while we sign her up for rehab..." Dante said as Dawkins listened intently and thought the information over.

"So, they wanted to see if I could stay here while we figured this out..." Joan said as Dawkins thought it over.

"D2, are you sure about this?" Dawkins asked, obviously a little concerned.

"About as sure as I can be love," D2 said with a sigh "I know this will be complicated as can be but I have to try here".

"Alright, I'll just trust you here D2," Dawkins said and motioned them inside as he went to pick up the papers he'd dropped.

D2 nodded at that and walked inside before he said "I'll show you to the spare room you'll be staying in Joan".

Joan nodded and followed D2 as Dante helped Dawkins with the papers, Joan just looked for a bit and sighed. "I do remember what happened but it's foggy... And to be honest... I wish you did kill me..." Joan said as she walked with D2.

D2 didn't have anything to say to that and before long they were at the room "I'll get you something to eat before you go to sleep and then check on you in the morning" and with that he walked away.

"Alright, that's fine," Joan said and just laid on the bed without another word.


	21. Some Pain is Better than Others

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're both taking a break from rping for now as we've started to feel a bit burned out, there will be a chapter of 'Family Fun' coming out as well but it will be the last update for a bit.

The pups had been sent to Delilah for a week, they'd been excited and it seemed they wouldn't be the only pups there so Dimitri 1 knew they'd be having a blast. Dimitri 1 was grinning and practically hopping around the house as he and Destiny had planned to go all out. They had agreed to keep things fairly tame, especially when the pups were home. But, when they had some time alone they'd do it pretty much anywhere.

Destiny was waiting by the door waiting for D1 to get there and had the biggest grin on her face. They didn't know exactly where just yet but they had agreed to do this somewhere outside seeing as their closet neighbor was miles away so they thought it would be safe.

Dimitri walked up to Destiny and was wagging his tail, both of them ready to do this. D1 and Destiny had agreed how far to go, they wanted to avoid anything that would cause questions from curious pups.

Destiny smiled as she saw him coming and was wagging her tail as well as she opened the door before she said "so any ideas of where to do this love?~ I'm good with just about anywhere~".

"I set up a spot where we'd get a little shade, everything's there that we can choose from. I also made sure we had water and anything else we may need," D1 said as he led her over to one of their favorite 'hide from pups' spots.

Destiny giggled at that as she followed him there. She had been looking forward to this since they had started planning it and said "Good~ I'd hate to have to go back to the house to get something~".

Dimitri gave her a kiss as they walked to their destination, it was a decent ways from the house which meant it would be a long walk back if they needed to go back for any reason.

Destiny kissed him back and said: "So~ what's the big idea for your next story? I know you still need to finish up the one you're working on now but it couldn't hurt to have an idea of what to do next".

"May take a small break so I don't burn myself out, though I would like to test my skill in a new genre. I was thinking of maybe something a bit lighthearted, just need a premise," D1 said as he thought about it, everything seemed to be going well, and was happy with where he was if he was honest.

Destiny nodded at that and said "yeah now that you mention it a break sounds about right, even without the money I saved up way back when I was still an actress the sales of your books will be able to let us live comfortably for a while, some of your fans are even starting to buy up your older stuff before you started to get a fanbase saying all kinds of things like they 'can't believe it took him this long to get discovered with stuff like this'" Destiny giggled a bit at that and tried to think of something lighthearted to suggest D1 do when he got back to it but couldn't think of anything.

"Though, there are those wondering when or if I'll make a public appearance... While tempting, I'm sure my human fans would be very confused..." D1 said with a chuckle and held a paw to his face as they walked.

"True but last I heard Dawkins has been working on an invention that would translate what we say into something they can understand, maybe once word gets out about that you could ask Dawkins for one and do an appearance then? could help you and Dawkins both out in the long run if you ask me" Destiny said with a shrug.

"Dog, that will be one less headache for everyone... Hope he'll get it working soon, though if he's talking about it then he's at least building a prototype," D1 said, he knew Dawkins well enough that he could tell when Dawkins was serious about something.

"Yup my thoughts exactly, it won't be too long before he gets a working version knowing him, honestly I can't wait," Destiny said as they were coming on the spot.

"Looks like we're here~," D1 said as they walked over, he had tables set up and everything. He had some of their favorite toys they'd only get out if they could get away with using them.

Destiny smirked and walked up to the table and asked "so what should we do first love?~"

"Depends~ Any bruises should be healed or won't be too noticeable once the pups return~," D1 said as he picked up some rope, giving Destiny a kiss as he thought about how far they'd go.

"Oh I know~ don't want them asking any questions we can't answer~ but still aside from that I want to really let loose here~ it's been way too long since the last time we've had alone time like this~" Destiny said after she kissed him back and shivered with anticipation.

"Sounds good, love~ Be like the fun we used to have, my bitch~," D1 said and gave her ass a slap, as long as she gave him the okay he'd go all out with her.

"Oh Dog~" Destiny moaned out loudly "I really missed you calling me that~" she continued once she pulled herself together and waited for what he did next.

"I'm not gonna bother with a gag by the way~ I feel it'd be a bit pointless~," D1 said he got ready to tie her up, he'd made sure everything was sterilized. D1 always tried to keep everything as safe as possible, and he was about ready to really get going.

"Yeah~ no one around to hear me anyway~," Destiny said as D1 got to tying her up and helped him out as much as she could and was really excited to get the show on the road.

"Though, there is one hole I don't mind plugging up~," D1 said once he got done tying her up and grabbed a buttplug to insert into her tail hole.

"Oh Dog~" Destiny moaned out as she felt the buttplug enter her ass "Well I'm all yours love~".

"One last time to make sure~ You want me to go all out, bitch?~" D1 said as he grabbed the whip, knowing she could take a lot. In fact, giving birth was the only time he'd seen her show any discomfort which didn't surprise him too much.

"Yes~ just so long as you don't leave a mark that won't clear up by the time the kids come back you can do just about anything to me right now~," Destiny said loving this. She wished they didn't have that one restriction as she was a glutton for punishment.

"Of course~ I'll be careful~," D1 said as he whipped her ass, he knew she could take a lot all he had to do was make sure he didn't do anything that could lead to unwanted questions. He started whipping her ass for a bit, knowing she was already loving this.

Destiny moaned loudly as D1 got to it. She was in heaven as far as she was concerned and just couldn't get enough of this.

D1 kept going and once her ass was starting to look a little red he stopped, but not before using the whip on her cookie with a chuckle. "What else to do?~ I want this to last for a while~" D1 said with a chuckle, they had plenty of time so he wasn't in any rush to finish this.

Destiny was panting hard by the time D1 stopped and eagerly waited for what else he was going to do.

"I'll want you to lick my cock and balls bitch~ I know you love to~," D1 said as he sat in front of her and rubbed her face all over his rod, pulling on her ear as he grinned.

Destiny eagerly got to work licking every inch of D1's rod and looked up at him straight in his eyes with bedroom eyes.

"Mm~ Dog I love you~ I would keep this up but I'm ready to get to the best part~," D1 said and moved away after a bit, getting behind her and preparing to mount her.

"I love you too D1~ and Dog am I ready for it~ don't hold back love~ and remember we agreed on trying for more kids so no pulling out~," Destiny said as she waited for him to get to it.

"Nothing hotter than you carrying my pups~," D1 said as he gave her ass a slap and began pushing his rod into her cookie, it never ceased to amaze him that she could still feel pretty tight even with everything the two had done.

Destiny moaned as loudly as she could knowing no one would hear her as D1 got to thrusting into her and loved every second of it.

D1 thrusted as hard and as fast as he could, he was howling as loud as he could. His cock throbbed as her pussy gripped and slapped her ass with each thrust.

Destiny howled as well feeling overwhelmed by pleasure. She would have started pushing back against him if she wasn't tied up but then again she wouldn't be enjoying this as much if she weren't.

"Oh dog~ I just love knocking you up, bitch~ Seeing you walking around carrying my pups is just too sexy to me~," D1 said as he kept up his thrusting, not letting up a bit as he slammed against her ass with each thrust.

"Oh Dog~ you know I love having your pups just as much as you love knocking me up~," Destiny said as she felt herself getting close.

D1 was getting close as well, and since they both already agreed to more pups he just kept thrusting. He had no intention of pulling out as he slammed his knot into her and filled her with his seed.

Destiny moaned with her eyes rolling to the back of her head as she came right as D1 knotted her "Oh fuck yes~" she said as she rides out her afterglow.

D1 immediately started cuddling her as soon as he was coherent. Wagging his tail in excitement as he laid there, he made it no secret he loved his pups and had told Destiny he didn't have a number in mind as to how many were too many.

Destiny cuddled him back and was wagging her tail as well. She didn't have an exact of pups in mind for them to have either although she wasn't sure how many more times she was willing to give birth as that was well past her pain tolerance.

"Did you have fun love?~" D1 asked, already knowing the answer as he nuzzled Destiny's neck. D1 had to admit not being too surprised about giving birth being outside of her threshold and had made up his mind that as soon as she said she was done having pups he wouldn't even press any further.

"Of course I did love~," Destiny said nuzzling him back "after this next batch of pups I'll have to think long and hard if I'll want any more kids afterwards" she said closing her eyes and smiled before she continued with "I already know I won't have to fight you on it if I say I'm done but as it stands I'm not sure, we'll see how I feel after these come out".

"Alright love, just let me know. Besides, if we want more but you don't feel like going through that again we can always adopt. Though I still say I find you just as sexy when you're pregnant~" D1 said and gave her a kiss as he rubbed her belly.

Destiny giggled a bit and said: "Thanks love~ and I'll keep that in mind D1~ we'll talk about it later though after this next batch is done~".

"Yes, we should, and let's confirm it before announcing it. You know the pups will be excited, and we don't want to break their hearts," D1 said with a smile and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best, though I have a funny feeling this took~ not sure why though," Destiny said giggling a bit and closed her eyes as well.

"I hope so~ I think it worked~ Besides, I'm ready to go again as soon as you feel ready~" D1 teased a bit as he yawned, feeling like taking a nap there.

Destiny giggled at that and said: "let's take a nap love~ the weather is perfect for it right now~".

"I agree~," D1 said as he slowly fell asleep, unable to keep a grin off his face.

Destiny wasn't far behind him and fell asleep with a smile on her face as well.


	22. Bringing in the Test Dummy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright we're back to it, technically it was a whole week but I posted the previous chapter late.

Early one morning Mark, a human, walked up to the home of Dawkins and D2. Mark had been talking to Dawkins online unaware of him being a dog for the last two weeks. Dawkins had convinced Mark to come to his place. Dawkins had been honest with Mark up to a point and had explained that he was an inventor and wanted to test something big with him and while Mark found all this incredibly suspicious he was low on cash and Dawkins was offering a ton of money if he went along with this so he agreed.

'Door is unlocked, come into the living room and take a seat,' A message read on his phone. This didn't make anything less odd, but this Dawkins knew he was there at least.

Mark just shrugged at that and opened the door and stepped inside to do just that and went straight to the living room but he did take in the house he was in if be it briefly and sat down waiting for his employer to make himself know "I swear if I end up with one less kidney by the time this is over I don't know what I'll do, though this house does seem to be in a pretty decent part of town and the house itself doesn't look like one those places you see on T.V. where they bust people for doing that sort of thing both from the outside and inside".

A dog soon walked in and got up on the sofa with some device in his mouth, it looked similar to a small walkie talkie and there was still no sign of a human being living there.

"Right he did mention to expect one of his dogs being around," Mark said, picking up the device and looking it over "I guess this must be the big invention, never did explain what it was supposed to do no matter how hard I pushed for an answer... how does it even turn on? I don't see a switch or button anywhere".

" _Woof_ button is _woof_ Come on al _woof_ there..." The dog started saying as he fiddled with the device.

Mark sat there for a second not sure he believed what he just heard and after a minute he dared to turn to look at the dog and say "I uh, am I going crazy, or did you just... talk?"

" _Woof_ It seems to _woof_ working... The subject _woof_ is surprised," the dog said as if he'd expected this reaction already. Though it appeared the sentences would be jumbled up at times.

"Okay... I did in fact hear what I thought I heard... either that or I've finally cracked and given the two options let's assume the first until proven otherwise" Mark said sitting back on the couch and looking up at the ceiling with his thoughts racing a mile a minute.

" _Woof_ Dawkins, nice to _Woof_ meet you," Dawkins said as he continued to adjust the device, seeming very nonchalant about this.

"I'm Mark, I'm guessing you were the one I was talking to on Discord?" Mark said still in shock "I'm not getting every word by the way but I'm getting enough to piece what you mean together".

" _Woof_ in progress, and _Woof_ " Dawkins was saying as he kept trying to fiddle with the device, hoping he could fix the issue.

Mark nodded his head before he said "and to think I was worried about losing a kidney just a moment ago... you weren't kidding when you said this is big... I don't know how Humanity seemed to miss the fact dogs are apparently a lot smarter than we were giving them credit for but we won't be able to ignore it for much longer now that this exists..."

"Lack of translation has caused many problems in history... Let me _woof_ it something _woof_ better..." Dawkins said as he tried what he could. "Is losing kidneys a normal human fear?" Dawkins asked cluelessly in the first well-translated sentence.

"I guess you have a point and under normal circumstances, no" Marks said with a sigh before he got to explaining "but you made this seem really suspicious by not giving me all the details when I asked, like I get why you didn't now but you made this look like you were luring me into a trap, the only reason I agreed is that the money you offered will be able to get me by for the next few months so I decided it was worth the risk".

"Fair point and I guess now I don't have to explain myself. To be fair, you seemed to be the only one wanting to see this through," Dawkins said as the device seemed to be working for the most part.

"Didn't have too many options at the moment but still," Mark said with a shrug "Whatever you did seems to have fixed it, by the way, I'm getting every word now".

"Adding a tuning instrument was a good idea after all, I'll still need help working out the bugs and will require more assistance as I get ready to reveal this. Any questions?" Dawkins asked, figuring Mark would be full of questions for the talking Dalmatian.

"Well, the big one I have is how are you going to pay me? and like am I going to get paid each time we work together or what?" Mark said looking a bit sheepish "because I've got rent due in a few days and I need to get this sorted out first before I worry about anything else".

"Take this... And We'll discuss more later on that. I actually am an anonymous lab employee, basically like with you a 'human' offers his 'dog' to assist them in major tests and work on major inventions and he gets a huge sum of money for it," Dawkins said as he slid Mark an envelope, letting Mark put two and two together at that.

Mark nodded at that not needing to be told any more before opening it and quickly looked to see how much was in there, “alright this is more than enough to cover this month's rent and the backpay I'm due... I have more questions, but honestly? they're all about how a dog can live on their own like this with the way Humanity has everything set up, so that can wait until we know each other better."

"Oh the weirdness has only just begun..." Dawkins said with a chuckle and shook his head while rolling his eyes. "He should be back in a moment, so I suggest you go take care of that and be careful carrying that around," Dawkins said pointing to the check, Dawkins said one of the dogs implying multiple but he left out a few details to Mark.

"Alright, I'll get out of your fur then, I'm heading straight to my bank to deposit this as soon as I can," Mark said getting up not wanting to think too hard of what Dawkins meant by that "you know how to connect me when you need my help again Dawkins".

"Of course, Mark. I'll contact you again soon enough, remember not a word of this to anyone... Not that they'd believe you... Yet," Dawkins said as he waved goodbye to Mark and got ready to turn off the device.

"Oh trust me I'm not dumb enough for that, I'm not a fan of getting sent to the loony bin thank you very much," Mark said with a laugh as he walked out the door.

Dawkins went to put the device up as he waited for D2 to return, they'd started Joan in rehab, but they'd been very quiet on her living with them. She'd been slowly but surely getting better, Dawkins had done a medical checkup on her and realized she would have starved to death or even overdosed if D2 hadn't found her. Regardless of what she did, he did feel a bit sorry for her. She admitted to him that sometimes she had wished D2 had killed her.

Not too much longer D2 came home and walked inside and said: "hey love I'm home, where are you?"

"In the living room, Joan is staying there for a few days right?" Dawkins said as he went to greet D2.

"Yeah, she is, how'd it go with the human you said you were going to bring over while I was gone?" D2 asked as he met Dawkins halfway and gave him a nuzzle.

"Better than expected actually, he took things rather well and at least the device worked somewhat, so it wasn't a waste," Dawkins said and nuzzled him back, happy it would be just the two of them for a couple of days.

"That's great love, I can't wait until you iron out all the bugs, it's going to be something else," D2 said with a giggle "maybe next time I can meet him? of course we'll have to leave out the detail of us being brothers, no telling how he'll take that".

"Yeah, let's just say we're soon to be married and leave it at that... Oh, we need to work on our wedding plans a bit," Dawkins said as he remembered, they still hadn't discussed the details as they'd been a bit busy.

"Yeah that's a good point, I guess we can do that tomorrow, you did say you have the next few days off after all right?" D2 said thinking that over.

"Yep, and I've pretty much had everything at a point where I can take a break. I say we rest for now, though I might not be able to keep my paws off you~" Dawkins said as he winked and gave D2's ass a slap.

D2 moaned from the slap before giggling a bit "you won't hear me complaining~ though right now I really do need a nap, it's been a long day is all I'll say".

"You can tell me about it later, love. And I think I'll do the same, though I kind of want to change things up, but I know it'll take some talking," Dawkins said and kissed D2's cheek.

D2 kissed him back and made his way to their bedroom to take that nap knowing Dawkins was right behind him.

Dawkins followed and didn't bother hiding where his eyes were as he followed, he'd have to wait a bit but the wait would be worth it.

D2 smiled as he loved the way Dawkins ogled him like that and soon enough they were at their room and went to lay down in their bed.

Dawkins laid next to D2 and pulled him close, cuddling his fiancé and nuzzling his neck.

D2 nuzzled him back and closed his eyes before he quickly fell asleep.

Dawkins wasn't far behind him, falling asleep and smiling as he felt they'd both earned a nap.


	23. Second Test

Dawkins decided to invite Mark back, noting the translator still had bugs here and there. But, he also felt D2 should be present this time and was waiting at the door for Mark this time.

Dawkins didn't have to wait long as Mark came knocking right when he said to arrive "Dawkins? I'm here" Mark called out, pretty sure no one passing by would think twice about him using Dawkins's real name.

Dawkins opened the door with a bark, without the translator on Mark wouldn't understand a word.

Mark came in and quickly closed the door behind him "Hey Dawkins, I'll wait for you to get the translator before I start asking questions" He said as they walked deeper into the house and noticed D2 "Hey there, Dawkins did say he had another dog living with him, nice to meet you I guess" to which D2 barked to say hello as he followed them.

Dawkins barked to D2 and motioned that he wanted D2 to lead Mark to the living room as he went to get the translator.

D2 nodded at that and went to do just that and Mark noticed all this and put two and two together of what was going on and followed D2.

Dawkins had told D2, try and be friendly as he wasn't really sure how D2 was around humans. In all honesty, Dawkins wasn't worried as surely any issue would've come up by now.

Mark sat down on the couch and D2 joined him and they two just sat there in silence both knowing any real conversation they could have was going to have to wait for Dawkins to get the translator. D2 didn't really have much of an opinion on Humans one way or another if he was being honest, the closest he ever had to having a problem with them was that one time Clarissa got her Human to call animal control to look into his childhood home back when he and most of his siblings were still living there and while that was a bad scare for him it didn't take them long to find out that Clarissa planned that so any feelings he had about it got pinned to her instead.

Dawkins decided to sit down on the couch as well and set the translator down and began tuning it. "Good _woof_ ing Today _woof_ and I will be _woof_ ing with you," Dawkins said as he kept fiddling with the device for a bit.

"Good morning to you too, and could you repeat that? I didn't get the name of who your friend here is" Mark said, really curious as to who this is.

D2 just sat there and watched Dawkins fiddle with the translator and waited until it was working a bit better before he said anything.

"Dimitri 2, Don't _woof_ you can _woof_ him," Dawkins said as he kept fiddling and was trying to get it where it was the other day.

"Ah okay, nice to meet you Dimitri 2, I'm Mark, how do you two know each other if you don't mind me asking? I don't want to just assume anything" Mark said with a laugh.

"Nice to _woof_ you too, he's my _woof_ fiancé," D2 said with a smile.

"I think this is how I had it tuned, let me write down the frequency. And yes, we are together, and is this working now?" Dawkins asked before he said anything else.

"Yup I got every word of that" Mark said thinking that over "I would normally be surprised by both you being gay and actually getting married but honestly my world view is still trying to put itself back together from the other day so I'll let that speak for itself".

"Reverse engineering a walkie talkie and using some other data has definitely proved a good idea. Yeah, and by the way, you can still pet us if you want. But anyway that's not why I called you here as the other day was testing so let's have a full conversation," Dawkins said and switched over the subject.

"Ah I thought that's what you said but I didn't get the word 'pet' so I thought I'd play it safe," Mark said and then start petting the two of them one at a time "and that makes sense to me, what should we talk about?"

"Oh Dog~ I'll never understand how you Humans make this feel so good," D2 said as Mark petted him.

"Yeah, thanks for waiting for clarification. Some humans on Discord I wouldn't let near me or D2. Mm, having a human around won't be so bad~" Dawkins said as he relaxed and laid his head on Mark's leg.

"You're welcome and yeah there can be some real creeps there but there's also a lot of nice people on there too," Mark said with a laugh. He didn't get what made this so enjoyable for them but he just shrugged it off and kept going.

"Yep, and so about how we live without a human... My mom was owned by a billionaire and we've got enough money and a few legal hurdles to work through that we manage. We aren't the only ones who manage this by the way," Dawkins said as he let Mark continue, he could see some of the benefits of having Mark around.

"Ah okay that makes sense, and I kind of figured you weren't the only ones like this, just didn't seem all that likely that you'd be alone in that aspect once I got to thinking about it you know?" Mark said thinking that over.

"Makes sense, any other questions?" Dawkins asked as he closed his eyes.

"Hmm well now that I know how it works in a general sense, I guess I'd like to hear how day-to-day life works?" Mark said after thinking for a second "like everything is designed for Humans to use, for the most part, you said you were inventor right? do you just make stuff to make everyday tasks possible?"

"Yep, though I do need a human to 'sell' my inventions so to speak," Dawkins explained as he thought about it.

Mark nodded at that and said: "This is going to take some getting used to, to say the least, but that's about everything I can think to ask".

"I'm sure we'll think of more as we go, I'm sure this is still a lot to take in," Dawkins said as he thought of what else to do.

"Yeah I'm sure we will and it sure is," Mark said and then a thought came to his mind "hey you said we're supposed to have a conversation here right? well how about you ask me a few questions now that I asked you a few?"

"Sounds fair, have anyone you hang out with?" Dawkins said he tried to think of some questions.

"I have a few friends both online and that I know in person," Mark said and then remembered something important "I did tell them about your 'job offer' before I knew what I was getting into and they all basically told me I was being an idiot going along with it, I've told them that I signed a non-disclosure agreement since then just to make it so I didn't have to answer their questions since I knew they weren't going to drop it otherwise, but I did tell them not to worry and that this wasn't as shady as it seemed".

"I could tell you seemed desperate, but it sounds like you have plenty of people who are concerned for your well being," Dawkins said with a smile and was glad for that.

"Yeah, I'm having a bit of trouble finding a job at the moment I'm not going to lie, but I've got some really good friends, if all else fails I could crash with one of them while I try to get back on my feet," Mark said with a laugh.

"Well, I can at least alleviate that a bit. You're technically my test dummy, but remember the whole ‘I need a human to introduce my invention’ problem?" Dawkins said as he looked at Mark with a straight face.

"I think I see where you're going with this but let me hear you say it first," Mark said wanting to make sure Dawkins was saying what he thought he was saying.

"If you would be interested, once it's fixed to a level it can be released for public use, that you be the one to help me introduce it," Dawkins said as he looked up at Mark.

"Sounds good to me, I might as well see it through to the end now that I'm in it this deep" Mark said without needing to think about it much.

"I figured you'd agree if we made it this far, I expected much more screaming and running in terror at first. D2 seems to enjoy the change in company," Dawkins said as he looked over at a sleeping D2.

"Yeah I can't say I blame you, most people seem to just fall apart and lose it when something this strange happens but I've always been one to hold my composure no matter what for some reason so I say you lucked out big time," Mark said and looked at D2 sleeping and couldn't help but find him adorable like that.

"Always a good way to be, sometimes you can't avoid the dark or strange parts of life," Dawkins said with a smile and licked Mark's hand.

Mark nodded at that and said: "anything else you want to know about me?"

"Are you a local or did you move here? I don't want to ask too many personal questions as we should know each other before we get there," Dawkins said as he sat up.

"Yeah I agree with us getting to know each other better before we ask personal stuff but anyways I'm a local, lived here in London my whole life pretty much," Mark said feeling good about this talk.

"Yep, and we're still dogs so you don't have to worry about treating us any different," Dawkins said with his tail wagging.

"I bet you'd like that" Mark said with a laugh "but for real though once this becomes common knowledge some massive changes are going to come whether you want it to or not."

"Hehe, I know but let me enjoy it while it lasts," Dawkins said and laughed as well. "I'm expecting a mixed reception from all parties honestly," Dawkins added as he looked to see how much battery was left.

Mark looked to see how it was doing as well and saw that it showed ten percent "looks like we'll have to wrap this up, this has been a nice talk Dawkins I'll see you next time" he said getting up.

"Yep, nice talking with you, and have a safe trip home," Dawkins said as he got ready to turn the translator off.

"I will see you next time," Mark said waving goodbye as he left.

Dawkins waved back as Mark left and he turned the translator off.


	24. Giving Their All

Dawkins had a free day and made his way to D3 and Dora's place, they'd both managed to have a day off and he figured today would be a good day to visit. He walked up and knocked on the door, knowing they'd be waiting for him as he'd called them beforehand.

D3 came and opened the door and said "hey Dawkins, come on in".

"Hello, D3 you feeling well? Let's chat in the living room," Dawkins said with a smile as he walked inside, noticing Dora seemed absent but figured she would be with them in a moment.

"Yeah I'm alright, we're both starting to recover from the news about Dora although she took it much harder than I did..." D3 said as they walked to the living room.

"I can imagine, that really seemed like something she looked forward to. Though, I hear Tina has been enjoying it when her Aunt Dora sees her so hopefully that's helped a bit," Dawkins said as he sat his bag down and took a seat. Dora was coming out of the kitchen with some snacks for them, seeming to be in a good mood.

D3 nuzzled Dora as she passed by before he sat down and said "so what brings you over Dawkins? just wanted to hang out or did you have something you wanted to talk about?"

"A bit of both, how are you feeling Dora?" Dawkins asked and smiled at her, hoping she'd be in a decent enough mood.

"I'm great actually, and yes I think Tina's just happy to have someone who knows what it's like surrounded by boys," Dora said and teased a bit, giggling as she nuzzled D3 back and sat down as well.

D3 just laughed at that and said "we were all ready to have Dante's head on a pike when we first heard about him having those kids but it seems like it turned out to be just what Dora needed in the end, go figure am I right?"

"I admit, I may have called him while Delgado was busy one day and said a lot of things that might have been too far. Dante and I have quite a history that I won't get into," Dawkins said and laughed a bit as well, though kind of regretted doing that to Dante.

"Oh, trust me he's told me plenty. Though I got to think about that scenario and I do admit needing to work on controlling my anger a bit," Dora said with a giggle, Dante had come clean about everything to her a while back and it was one of the few times she'd had the urge to punch him.

"Yeah I can see where you're coming from but now that we have all the facts maybe you should call him up and apologize if you haven't already. Dora called Dante the next morning when we found out and said lots of things I won't repeat but she has since apologized for it" D3 said just giving his two cents on the matter.

"I could go ahead and do that, after that I do want to talk about something," Dawkins said and nodded to D3, giving him a hint of what it was. He pulled out his cell phone as Dora was curious what he meant but waited patiently.

"We didn't mean you had to do right now, bro," Dora said, though figured it didn't really matter as long as Dawkins and Dante worked things out.

D3 nodded back and just sat in silence as Dawkins called Dante having had picked up the hint Dawkins gave him and wanted to think that over for a second.

Dawkins took his time and talked with Dante for a bit, apologizing and they both had a small discussion before hanging up.

"Always good seeing you two getting along, you two are family after all," Dora said to which Dawkins nodded in agreement.

"Yeah what Dora said, now what was it you wanted to talk about Dawkins?" D3 said happy to see Dawkins and Dante smoothing things out but at this point he had a good idea what this visit was about and wanted to get to it.

"Okay, you want me to go ahead and say it? I know you wanted to surprise her," Dawkins said, wanting to make sure before saying anything, he was finished with the pills but wondered how D3 planned on doing this.

"I had hoped you would have called when you knew you had something for sure before I worried about how we would go about this if I'm being honest so go ahead and just say it Dawkins" D3 said with a big grin on his face pretty sure Dora was super confused at this point but he knew the look on her face would be something else.

"So, I managed to finish it up and I made sure it was as dog friendly as possible. This should boost fertility to a point that will mean a much higher chance of pregnancy," Dawkins said as he pulled out a pill bottle and showed them.

Dora was listening but wasn't sure what to say, her mind still processing what was going on.

D3 turned to Dora with a smile and said "back when we first got the news about you being infertile I had asked Dawkins to look into ways of maybe helping us out Dora, he didn't make any promises saying he wasn't a miracle worker but he would at least try".

"Yep, and while it's not a guarantee... It should give you a better chance," Dawkins said with a smile right as Dora hugged them crying.

D3 chuckled a bit and hugged Dora back with a smile on his face and stayed quiet wanting Dora to let this sink in for a moment.

"Thanks, you two, I know it's not a guarantee but it's better than nothing," Dora said as she released them from her hug.

"Yes, now I did see if there was any way to negate any birth defects but it didn't seem I could do much. So, I'll leave it up to you. Whichever you decide is between you two," Dawkins said to the two of them, wanting to let them know he tried but they'd have to take a chance if they chose to.

"Thanks, Dawkins even if you couldn't find a way to help us with that detail you've already went above and beyond for us and I can't thank you enough for that, me and Dora will talk about it on our own time about this" D3 said nuzzling Dora and closed his eyes.

"Sounds good to me, also I found someone to test my translator on and it seems a bit buggy but definitely going in the right direction," Dawkins said as he changed the subject letting the two talk on it later as he began gushing about his invention.

Dora had to admit, she always found it cute when Dawkins was gushing about something he loved or was excited about. "That's great, Dawkins," Dora said with a giggle and was excited to hear this.

"Oh really? how did the human take it when he heard you say something? that must have been a shock for him" D3 said happy for Dawkins but couldn't lie that he was curious about how that went.

"He was surprised but took it rather well, it was hard finding someone willing to do it as I couldn't just outright say what was up," Dawkins explained and knew his pitch was sketchy but he couldn't just say what he was doing.

"I can understand that, I'm sure once that's released some major changes will happen," Dora said, a bit curious how things will change, she still wasn't sure of her own opinion on it but did support Dawkins.

"Oh they definitely will, there'll be people arguing whether or not we should have the same rights as humans just to name a big one off the top of my head" D3 said trying his best to stay calm, he didn't like talking about it but he really wasn't a fan of how Humans treated dogs at times, sure humans will wait on them hand and foot for whatever they need but that comes at the cost of not even having a say in keeping their balls or uterus to just name one thing that bothered D3.

"Quite, and I take it you're all for it," Dawkins said and didn't even have to ask as Dora nodded. Dawkins felt it would be interesting as he did know either way there was some sacrifice.

"I admit, he may have got me leaning towards his side of things as he has a point," Dora added, D3 having told her plenty about his thoughts on it.

"Yeah, I ultimately believe that this will be for the best, when the time comes I'll be leading the charge for getting dogs to be equals with Humans" was all D3 had to say there.

"Alright, fair enough. Just try not to get too irrational with it please," Dawkins said as the last time D3 didn't think things through and acted on a whim, he became public enemy number one.

"Don't worry, I can keep him grounded, and this one of the few things he's very passionate about. Plus, I know he can keep his cool when he needs to," Dora said in D3's defense and patted his back.

"Yeah trust me with Dora on my side we'll be able to handle this, although I know we can't take on the world by ourselves, we'll need friends and allies both dog and human if we want to make any real leeway but we won't worry about that until you work out the bugs on the translator first Dawkins," D3 said as a matter of factly like he already has spent a lot of time thinking about this.

"Probably a good idea, and in the meantime I'll get to work and I agree with you. I like my balls where they are, and so does D2," Dawkins said as he got up with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I like D3's balls where they are as well~," Dora said with a giggle, playing along with Dawkins.

D3 laughed at that and said: "yeah as it stands we're fortunate with the living situation we grew up in and have maintained so far, but most dogs don't have that luxury."

"Yeah, I'm sure glad to have missed that experience," Dawkins said as he got ready to leave, chuckling as Dora leaned against D3 giving him bedroom eyes.

"I know the context isn't hot... But, I know where I want your cock~" Dora whispered to D3 as Dawkins got ready to leave, she'd have been more discreet if it was anyone but Dawkins with them.

D3 just chuckled at that and waved Dawkins goodbye. He wasn't going to turn Dora down, to say the least regardless of what they had been talking about.

"Have fun you two~," Dawkins said as he left, having overheard Dora who smirked as he left.

"Oh we will~ Just take care of D2~," Dora said with a giggle as she thought it over, having all day with D3 meant they could do anything they wanted.

As Dawkins left and they heard the front door close D3 said "so sweetheart~ how about we head to our bedroom?~"

"No problem~," Dora said and shook her ass for D3 as they walked, ready to have some fun. They'd talk about the pills afterward but first, Dora wanted to have some fun with her husband.

D3 had his eyes glued to Dora's ass as they went not even try to make it look like he wasn't staring knowing she'd loved it when he admired her. He agreed that they would come to a conclusion one way or another about the pills later and just enjoy themselves for now.

"Come on~ I know you wanna spank me~" Dora said with a giggle and wanted him to go all out on her as they got to the bedroom.

D3 smirked and smacked Dora's ass firmly "just waiting for the okay love~," he said as they went inside.

"Mm~ Got anything you've been wanting to do?~" Dora said as she moaned loving the slap, not worried about closing the door as they were the only ones there.

"Well~ I talked to Destiny the other day and she convinced me to at least talk to you about giving bondage a try and before I knew it she had sent us some of her gear in the mail~" D3 said chuckling a bit and waited to see how Dora liked the idea.

"Oh~ Speaking of Destiny~ She helped me find out I had a masochistic side~ Honestly I've been wanting to ask if you could push me to my limits~" Dora said with a grin and was more than happy to go for it, she knew D3 would never dream of hurting her so figured she'd think on it before bringing it up.

"Oh really?~ well I'm more than happy to do so~," D3 said as he walked over to the closet where he had to hide the bondage gear "let's see, we've got plenty of rope with instructions on how to tie it and making sure it isn't too tight or too loose, a ball gag and a ring gag, a blindfold as well as noise-canceling headphones and tons of other stuff... wow I don't even know where to start with this".

"Oh~ How about I leave it up to you what to use?~ Hmm, I wonder what'd be better~ If I can still see and hear~ Or maybe it'd be hotter not knowing what you'll do until it's already done~ Clamps? What fo- Oh~" Dora said as she looked through them and knew Destiny had decided to give them everything she could think of. She wasn't hiding it, Dora wanted him to torture her any way he thought of. "Just don't put me in the hospital~," Dora said as she stepped back and let D3 choose for himself, knowing he had no intentions of hurting her that bad.

D3 sat there and thought about what he wanted to do for a minute and finally he said "here's what I'm thinking~ I'll tie you up so you can't move an inch but leave your tail free and then I remove your senses one by one before putting the ring gage on you~ from there it'll be a surprise and if I'm going too far you give me a signal with your tail, as for what that signal is I'll leave that to you".

"Sounds good~ I'll probably put my tail between my legs if it's too much, other than that you're in control~," Dora said, pretty much giving him the go-ahead to be as aggressive as he could think of.

"Alright then~ let's get to it~" D3 said, grabbing the rope and the instructions. He's never really used rope for much of anything and had no idea of tying a knot with it so he was glad Destiny thought to include that.

Dora waited to be tied up, her body hot with anticipation, and waited for D3 as her pussy was soaking wet just thinking about this.

D3 got to work tying Dora up, it was a slow process as he wanted to make sure he was doing it right and to not hurt Dora somehow but after a while he was finished and Dora was completely helpless "there we go~ I'll go get the blindfold now~".

"Alright, love~," Dora said and was a bit concerned as they'd never really gone this far before, but she was glad Destiny seemed to have thought of that.

D3 grabbed the blindfold as well as the ring gage and the headphones so he wouldn't have to make a second trip "Hehe~ I never thought we'd do something like this but I can't say that this isn't exciting~" D3 said as he put the blindfold on her.

"Same here, love~ Can't believe Destiny managed to talk us into this~," Dora said with a giggle as she made sure she couldn't move too much and waited for D3 to get done putting everything on.

D3 got the blindfold on and just before he put on the headphones he thought of something "hey how long do you want to be like this? like do you want me to get you out of all this when we're done? or how does me leaving you like this afterward and I lay you down on our bed and we cuddle like that as we sleep and I get you out in the morning sound?~"

"Sound hot~ No rush having our talk we have some time~," Dora said with a giggle, not minding that at all.

"Alright, just wanted to run that by you before it was too late~ love you Dora~ now let's get the show on the road~," D3 said, and with that settled he put the headphones and ring gage on her and looked her over for a second admiring his handing work as well as giving Dora a second to get used to being cut off from all her senses like that before he got to doing anything.

Dora took a minute to get used to not knowing what was going on, wagging her tail waiting to see what he did first.

D3 thought about what he wanted to do for a second and had a good idea for how to start this off. He walked over to the gear and grabbed a few clamps before he got back to Dora and started attaching them to her nipples.

Dora moaned loud as he did, and was surprised feeling the clamps on her, which was just turning her on even more. Wagging her tail, she waited for whatever D3 did next.

Once D3 got them all on her and making sure they were tight but not too tight he went back and grabbed a whip and chuckled a bit as he walked back to Dora and felt up Dora's ass a little in one part because he genuinely enjoyed playing with it and another he also wanted Dora to lower her guard a bit before he got to work.

Dora moaned at that, both the clamps and D3 feeling her up making her body relax as she waited for D3's next move. She'd told D3 to go all out and that was what she wanted, she loved him playing with her ass. She knew what she had and loved that D3 was the only one who could do anything to it.

After D3 heard her moaning from his touch for a few seconds D3 quickly pulled his paw away and before Dora had time to register this she felt a sharp sting suddenly across her ass as D3 got to whipping her.

Dora screamed and moaned into her gag, biting down for a second but luckily the ring was made to be very sturdy. Dora wanted him to keep going, this was even more fun than she thought and hoped D3 wasn't going to stop there.

D3 was worried for a second there as he heard Dora scream but he looked to see where Dora's tail was positioned and saw it wagging like crazy so he kept going, giving Dora one slash after another and smirked at how much she was enjoying it.

Dora was moaning loud from it, each hit on her ass making it jiggle as she moaned. If she could hear, she'd want him to talk dirty to her but it'd be pretty useless right now. Each hit also made the clamps bounce around and made her moan harder, her tail wagging fast as her body took each hit and made her tremble in pleasure.

After a while, D3 put the whip down and walked to the other side of Dora, and lifted her chin up for a second to admire her beautiful face. He thought about how he rarely got to have some fun with her mouth and even then it was Dora giving him a blowjob, he can't think of a single time he let loose and gave her a face fucking "well I guess there's nothing stopping me right now~" he said to himself a chuckled a bit knowing Dora couldn't hear any of it.

Dora could feel him touching her, not sure what was going on and as curious as to what he was doing. She had no real way of knowing, but was half hoping he'd bruised her butt after that. For now, she couldn't do much more than let him go for it.

D3 had gotten fully erect early on when they started this so all he had to do was slide his member into her mouth which was held open by the ring gage and got to thrusting hard and fast right away.

Dora couldn't do anything as D3 had his way with her mouth, loving this and hoping he had plenty more planned as he thrusted into her mouth a bit worried about the ring gag but it didn't seem to be causing problems.

D3 kept going and made sure she had a moment to breathe every once and a while but was otherwise not holding back on her "Oh Dog this is hot~ I know you can't hear me right now but I never thought I'd be this turned on by having you essentially be my fuck toy like this~".

Dora was loving this and wagging her tail, she was just being used like this as she felt his balls slapping her while his rod was being shoved deeper into her mouth.

D3 kept going and felt himself getting close. A part of him wanted to shoot his load down her throat but he knew his knot could get stuck on the ring gage which would be a nightmare so he played it safe and after a few more thrust he pulled out and sprayed his seed all over Dora's face and was panting a bit from it all.

Dora could feel the cum spraying all over face and was panting, she was still wanting to continue but was surprised she hadn't cum yet.

Once D3 pulled himself together he walked back around to her rear end and looked at her pussy and saw how dripping wet it was and grabbed it and started playing with it a bit wanting to see how she reacted.

Dora began moaning immediately, her eyes rolling to the back of her head though D3 couldn't see it and loving the feeling of him playing with her pussy. She had no idea what he planned on doing but didn't really care as she enjoyed everything so far.

D3 kept playing with her pussy and after a minute he pulled back and gave it a punch as hard as he could.

Dora let one loud moan as he did was wagging her tail, pretty much begging him for more, surprised at how much she liked that. She almost wished she could talk so she could tell him to keep going.

D3 chuckled and kept going, giving Dora one punch to her pussy after another and was really enjoying going further and further with this and surprised as well that he hadn't hit her limits yet and was starting to wonder if she even had any.

Dora was starting to feel close with each punch, her body tensing up and ready to burst, the clamps making her nipples numb at this point as they kept shaking around with each it and she knew he was going to make her cum if he kept it up.

D3 kept going knowing she was close and then had an idea. He stopped for a second before bending down and biting her pussy hard instead wanting to see how she would like that.

This really surprised her as she let out a scream and a moan. Dora came hard all over D3's face and was left in a daze, amazed at how hot she found that and was already looking forward to doing this again.

D3 chuckled and wiped his face clean and gave Dora a moment to recover from that before he mounted her "alright~ one more go and then I'll take her to bed for tonight~" he said to himself as he pushed his way into her.

Dora moaned from how sensitive her whole body felt as he entered her, Dora knew she'd probably hit her limit and was definitely going to be sore in the morning from this. She thought about seeing if D3 would spoil her a bit tomorrow, but she still had the time of her life at this point.

D3 got to thrusting and was being careful what with the beating he just gave her pussy. He wasn't going to mind spoiling Dora tomorrow when she was going to ask for it. He had gone into this planning on making it so Dora wouldn't need to even leave her bed if she didn't want to if she complained about being too sore.

Dora could tell D3 was being careful and considering how sensitive it felt she wasn't complaining as she moaned from a mix of pain and pleasure. She still wanted his knot though, and there was no need for him not to. Her body trembling with each thrust and happy with how this went.

D3 kept going and started stroking the fur on her back as he went and smiled as he was happy with how this had gone as well.

Dora was starting to feel close once more as he thrusted, her body tensing up as she got ready for D3's knot.

D3 felt himself getting close as well and with a few more good thrusts he knotted her and howled in pleasure as he filled her up with his seed.

Dora moaned loudly as she came hard once more, knowing she'd agreed to stay like this until the morning. Her body was telling her it was time to settle down and she knew D3 was probably done as well.

Once D3 came out of his afterglow he picked Dora up with his left front leg and started carrying her and himself to bed to cuddle comfortably while they went to sleep for the night.

Dora fell asleep not long after, having had her fun and couldn't wait to enjoy her day tomorrow as she let her body rest.

D3 wasn't far behind her and held her in his arms all night long as he slept with the biggest smile on his face.


	25. Recovery and Making A Decision

The next morning Dora woke up feeling pain throughout her body, groaning as she was feeling the results of the kinky fun D3 and she had the night before. She'd have to wait for D3 but she wanted to see what she looked like as soon as she could.

After a few minutes, D3 woke up as well and stretch a bit before he said: "Dog last night was awesome~ now let's get you out of all that~" and with that he got to work getting all the bondage gear off of her, starting with the noise-cancelling headphones, blindfold and ring gage "hey love~ how are you feeling?~"

"I feel sore everywhere, I admit though that bite was definitely the hottest part~," Dora said once everything was off her, noting how bruised and swollen her more intimate parts looked.

"Oh jeez I'm glad you had fun love but that doesn't look good," D3 said, feeling more than a bit guilty.

"Don't worry, let me rest for today and I might need some ice and things. We'll save calling Dawkins or mom for if I start feeling worse or something," Dora said, a bit concerned but figured it would be alright, and she was hoping D3 wouldn't beat himself up too bad.

"Alright, I'll go grab an ice pack and get you some breakfast in bed real quick," D3 said getting up to do just that.

As soon as D3 left the phone rang and the caller ID showed Delilah, who'd been checking in with her a lot lately. "Mom, your timing is impeccable," Dora said before answering it.

Once Dora answered it she heard Delilah say "hey sweetheart just checking up with you, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay, a bit sore but I'm alright," Dora said, not wanting Delilah to worry too much but knew Delilah would ask why she was sore.

"Sore? what happened? did you fall or something?" Delilah asked although if she had suspected that Destiny had suggested anything she probably wouldn't have dared to ask.

"Short answer... Destiny talked us into it, I'll spare you the details," Dora said, knowing that was all Delilah cared to know. Though, lately, it seemed Delilah and Doug hadn't been as bothered by these things as they used to be.

"Thanks, Dora for not going into detail even if that gives me more than enough of the picture on its own," Delilah said with a laugh "if you need me to come over there don't hesitate to let me know".

"I will, D3 will be taking care of me as much as he can and we agreed if things don't look like they're getting better we'll call for you," Dora told her with a giggle, not wanting her mom to come over unless she absolutely had to.

"Alright, still send me a text if you do look like you're getting better though, I'm your mother so I won't be able to stop myself from worrying about you until I know for sure you're okay," Delilah said in her typical worried mom voice.

"Alright, I'll call you later and you can check up on me if you want I won't stop you," Dora said laughing before groaning as her body reminded her she was sore.

"Alright then, anything else you want to tell me about?" Delilah said wanting to see if anything else was going on.

"Not really, aside from Dawkins getting some pills for me to take if we decide we want to try them. D3 and I haven't talked about it yet, as we are both a little worried about even if the pills work how the pups will turn out I guess," Dora told her, admitting a bit of concern with having pups with D3.

"Oh alright sweetie I understand, just talk with D3 and be honest and whatever you two decide I will support, just remember adoption is always an option," Delilah said doing her best to be supportive.

"I'll keep it in mind, mom. Love you," Dora said with a smile and felt D3 should be back in a minute.

"Love you too Dora, I'll let you go, I just heard a crash downstairs from some of your siblings so I should go check that out," Delilah said as she got ready to hang up.

"Very well, talk with you later," Dora said as she hung up so Delilah could do what she needed to do and waited for D3 who seemed to be taking a while.

"Hey love, sorry I took so long, I decided to make this breakfast special and make us omelettes," D3 said as he walked in carrying an ice pack and two plates both with an omelette on them.

"Guess you're really spoiling me today, huh?~" Dora said as he set the plates down and Dora set the ice pack, closing her eyes and biting her lip as she positioned on her most swollen spot. The cold feeling making her eyes shoot open in surprise as she let out a gasp.

D3 chuckled at that reaction and said: "careful there love~ and yeah I am~ don't be afraid to ask me for anything~".

"Oh, mom called to check on us and she might come over later to check on me. Though I did say I'd call her first and let her know if it gets better or not but you know how she can be if she gets concerned," Dora said with a giggle as she started eating, happy that Delilah was ready to come over at a moment's notice.

"Yeah I know all too well," D3 said with a laugh "but yeah thanks for letting me know she might come over" he continued as he set her plate in front of her and got to eating his omelette.

"Of course, I figured I should as if she decides to see us we can't stop her," Dora said with a giggle as she got to eating as well.

D3 nodded at that and ate in silence for the most part smiling.

Dora did the same, she had to admit that D3 was a good cook. She'd said to a few she was surprised he didn't try to be one, but he seemed happy with his security job.

Once they were done eating D3 put their plates aside and said: "so you need something love?"

"Not at the moment, I'll probably just sit here for now and see if I start feeling any better," Dora said as she laid back down, keeping the icepack on her and just seeing if it helped any.

"Alright, if you need me just call for me, I'll be close by," D3 said getting up and giving Dora a nuzzle before he turned to leave.

"Of course, love," Dora said with a smile as she wagged her tail, not regretting any of this at all.

D3 smiled at that as he left feeling good about this as well as he went to go relax for a while.

Dora tried to pass the time as best she could and every so often would check if the swelling was going down. "I wonder if I should go ahead and call mom, better safe than sorry but I'm sure it'll be fine after a day or so," Dora said to herself as she thought it over.

After a while and D3 having checked up on Dora several times they heard a knock on their door "that must be mom, I'll be right back with her Dora" D3 said having gotten her some water when they heard the knock.

"Alright, love. She's about the only other person I'd let see me like this," Dora said with a giggle as she began drinking the water, having felt thirsty.

D3 nodded at that and left to let their mother in and after a few minutes he came back with Delilah in tow "hey there sweetie, let me take a look at you" Delilah said as she walked over to her.

"Alright, mom. Is me laying down fine?" Dora asked, just making sure of what Delilah wanted her to do.

"Yes that should be fine, just let me know where you're sore at," Delilah said as she started to look Dora over.

"It's mostly the more... uh... intimate parts, though it'd still be good to make sure I'm just a little bruised up," Dora said, feeling a little embarrassed even if it was Delilah. Though, she was sure Delilah had assumed that at the very least.

"I can understand that Dora, now let's see here" Delilah as she got to look her over. “Well I don't recommend moving too much for a day or two but other than that... wait a second... is that... bite marks?" Delilah continued suddenly wishing she hadn't come over. She had gotten better at dealing with what her kids got up to but this was too much even for her.

"Um... Just do they look too bad? I won't explain if you don't want me to... I know it's swollen but hopefully, it didn't hurt anything too bad..." Dora said, blushing hard and could tell her mother was a bit surprised by that.

Delilah took a deep breath and said: "it doesn't look as bad as it can be, from what I can tell the swelling should go down in a few days, but I could be wrong, call me in a couple of days if you don't see any improvement".

"Alright, I will and I'll tell D3 to be a bit more careful... Even if it was kinda hot..." Dora said and muttered the last part to herself, noting Delilah went into professional doctor mode.

"Alright then, there's not much more I can say other than keep an ice pack handy," Delilah said getting up "I'll call you tonight before I go to bed to check up on you, see you later Dora".

"Alright, thanks mom and see you later," Dora said and could tell Delilah was wanting to get done with this as soon as she could.

Delilah waved goodbye and as soon as she was out of sight D3 came in and said: "hey love, how'd it go?"

"It went okay, she almost freaked out at the bite mark though and said things should heal up in a few days. I think we'll wait a while before we do that again and I should say no biting but dog was that hot..." Dora said as she thought of if she should let him do that again or not.

"Alright, I'm fine with waiting before we do that again and I should really go easier on you, you're not Destiny, after all, I don't understand how she can just power through being sore like that..." D3 said thinking everything over. D1 had told him plenty about Destiny over the years. "I'll leave it to you if you want me to bite you like that, I'll definitely won't bite as hard next time though... actually how do you feel about biting you in other places? could be a good compromise" He continued for a bit.

"Maybe not as hard and try to keep it from being too noticeable, we'll try to be more careful as if I looked bruised up or anything... Well, everyone will start looking your way and I'd have to try to explain but... I just don't want you getting in that kind of trouble you know," Dora said and licked his muzzle just giving him her thoughts.

"Alright, I do admit I went overboard because there wasn't any point where you didn't seem to be enjoying yourself love, we'll figure this out as we go and I'll learn not to leave any marks on you~," D3 said and nuzzled her back and smiled.

"Don't get me wrong, I loved it but we do need to think about things a bit and speaking of thinking. I should be going into heat in a couple of weeks, so if we want pups soon we'd better discuss it now," Dora said and figured it'd be best to talk about that as well.

D3 nodded at that and said "well I guess I should start with the big question, do want to have kids of our own? there is that risk of them not turning out right what with us being half-siblings and all..."

"Yeah, we need to decide if we want to take that risk. We could adopt and it'll be all good, I'd love to try and have kids of our own but I also know it'd break my heart if I had a kid that was born with serious problems," Dora said and tried to explain her thoughts on it.

"Yeah I know what you mean, I'm not sure how much I want to risk bringing someone into this world knowing there's a chance they'll suffer in some way their whole life and for it to be one hundred percent our fault," D3 said thinking that over "if we want kids that badly they're already plenty of perfectly healthy kids we can adopt.”

"True, I guess I was worried it wouldn't be the same but there are plenty of pups that need a good home and our niece and nephews warmed up to us just fine," Dora said and smiled, having started warming up to the idea of adopting.

D3 nodded at that and said "I guess it's settled then, I kind of feel bad about Dawkins, I asked him to go through the trouble of finding a way for us to have kids only to decide we would rather adopt anyway" he laughed a bit at that knowing Dawkins was going to understand regardless before he continued with "oh well as long as we're adopting anyway do you have any preference on what breed we adopt? I'm fine with just about anything but I want to know what you think".

"I kind of thought maybe adopting mixed breeds, we both know how that can be," Dora said knowing how many times she'd been called many things. "Plus, the two of us are adopted as well so we have something in common already," Dora said with a giggle and smiled.

"Yeah now that you mention adopting a mixed breed or two does make sense, Dog knows a good chunk of mix puppies never end up getting adopted at all," D3 said nodding in agreement, he didn't have it as bad as Dora did as he at least passed for a full-blooded Dalmatian but he felt Dora's pain every time he heard someone insult her when they were walking anywhere.

"Yes, and I do appreciate you trying not to cause a big scene as much as I do know how much that pisses you off," Dora said as she'd had to cool D3 off a few times after those incidents.

D3 smiled and chuckled a bit before he nuzzled Dora and said: "I love you, Dora, I guess we'll look into adopting a few kids after you heal up and your heat passes".

"Yeah, I hate for Dawkins to have done all that hard work for nothing. But, to be honest, I do look forward to adoption," Dora said with a smile as she closed her eyes. "I guess it was meant to be, and then the princess and her knight lived happily ever after," Dora said with a giggle, having always described their relationship as a fairy tale.

D3 chuckled and kissed her cheek. He didn't mind whenever she talked out their relationship like that, in fact, he took pride in that he managed to make her that happy that she would think of it that way.

"I guess we don't have to worry about you 'cooling me off' for now on~," Dora said with a giggle, just enjoying talking with D3 really. He'd really been spoiling her all day and she did love it when he did.

"Yup~ that's going to be tons of fun from now on~," D3 said with a laugh "it's a little ironic though~ all these years we've been dreading whenever that happens and all around it's been miserable for the both us of and all this time it could have been something we would be looking forward too~"

"Yep, ah well~ To be fair, the only reason I got that checked was the fact we both were starting to feel ready for kids," Dora said with a giggle, finding it funny how they'd both be dreading it and now there was no reason to.

"Oh well, I guess we'll have to make up for lost time once your heat kicks in a few weeks~," D3 said with a laugh.

"Yep, I can't wait and I think we should have as much fun as we can. Pups will mean less of that, though at least I don't have to deal with the 'joys' of childbirth," Dora said as she did admit that at least she didn't have to go through the giving birth part.

"Yeah I know what you mean, on both fronts, we've talked to plenty of our siblings to know what giving birth is like, D1 even told me that it's the only type of pain Destiny doesn't enjoy," D3 said just throwing in his two cents.

"They've told me all about it, especially since I was kind of looking forward to it. Mom and our sisters did make a point to let me know it's not the most fun experience in the world," Dora said and giggled, remembering her siblings and parents reminding her how difficult the whole process could be.

D3 nodded at that and said: "Well is there anything else we need to go over soon? I think that's just about everything".

"Pretty much, we don't have any other pressing matters. Oh, We'll be having some new nieces and nephews soon. Da Vinci told me the other day she and D.J. were having some and Destiny said she and D1 decided on more, so that's exciting," Dora said with a smile and felt happy for them.

"Oh that's nice, it was about time for DJ and Da Vinci to have some kids but I can understand why they wanted to wait, as for Destiny and D1 they're really making full use of that farm mom sold them," D3 said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I agree with you and it seems so," Dora said and laughed as well, happy for her siblings. "So after nature takes it course, we'll figure everything out as far as adoption goes," Dora said and closed her eyes, letting out a yawn.

"Yup that was what I was thinking," D3 said yawning as well "let's go ahead and take a nap Dora~".

"Sounds good to me," Dora said and scooted over for him to lay down with her.

D3 chuckled and cuddled up to Dora and closed his eyes and before he knew it he was fast asleep.

Dora wasn't far behind him, smiling as she slept and ready for her next phase in life.


	26. Decorating for the Holiday

Dante woke up slowly, feeling a weight on his back that he'd started becoming familiar with.

Delgado was waking up as well, cuddled up in Dante's arms, and chuckled a bit when he noticed one of their kids sleeping on top of Dante.

"I may need your help, love~," Dante said and gestured to a sleeping Tina, she'd barely leave Dante's said at times and had really grown attached to him as the weeks went on.

Delgado giggled a bit and said "alright love~" and with that, he got up and started to gently shake her awake "Tina, it's morning now and Dante needs to get up dear".

"Just a few more minutes..." Tina whined as Dante tried to gently get her off his back as much as she tried to resist.

"Let me get up real quick, we can cuddle when I get back, I promise," Dante said as Tina began holding onto his paw, though he was slowly getting her off his back.

Delgado smiled as Dante got Tina off of him. He couldn't deny that he loved this new morning routine even if it was going to be a bit of a problem for when they're in a hurry in the mornings.

"Alright, Tina, be good and help daddy Delgado today," Dante said and kissed Tina's forehead, before kissing Delgado as well.

Tina nodded and giggled as she began cuddling Delgado, her brothers sleeping in their room still.

Delgado kissed him back and said "love you Dante~ go get breakfast ready for us, I'll join you as soon I can" and with that he cuddled Tina back knowing it will take a good ten more minutes before she started to wake up on her own.

"Love you too~ I will, though she needs to go back to sleeping in her own bed," Dante said, and whispered the last bit. Granted, he was the one who kept giving in when Tina wanted to cuddle him.

Delgado giggled a bit and said: "oh alright~ just hand me my wheelchair and I'll get her there, hopefully, I won't wake up here brothers this time".

"Of course~ You don't have to do it right this minute~," Dante said as he pushed the wheelchair over, loving that the pups had begun to enjoy themselves.

Tina just buried her face in Delgado's chest, wrapping her paws around him as best she could.

Delgado nodded at that and said: "alright~ I think I'll enjoy a few minutes of this first before getting to her bed, now get going love~".

Dante nodded and left, leaving Delgado alone with Tina who was nuzzling his chest in her sleep and wagging her tail.

Delgado waved him off and cuddled Tina for a few minutes before deciding that it had been long enough and started getting up and getting his wheelchair on and carried her to the kid's room.

Tina groaned a little as she held on, still half asleep and nuzzling his neck. Her brothers would be the same way occasionally, but Tina had started wanting to be with Delgado or Dante most of the time.

Delgado got to the kid's room and somehow pried her off him and laid her down in her bed before going to check on how Dante was doing.

Tina curled up on her bed and went back to sleep. All three kids would be out for a few more minutes as Dante made sure everyone's bowl was made the way they liked it.

Delgado walked up to Dante just as he set down everyone's bowls and gave him a nuzzle.

Dante nuzzled Delgado back and took a seat, smiling as he waited for the pups to wake up.

Delgado sat down with him and waited as well and smiled.

"Best mistake of my life~," Dante said with a chuckle and smiled at Delgado.

Delgado laughed at that and kissed Dante on his cheek as he heard the kids coming.

Dante could tell the three had barely woken up, the pups slowly taking their seats and got to eating. It was going to be a big day as Dante and Delgado agreed to put up a Christmas tree, the kids hadn't gotten to before it seemed and Dante did want to let them have that experience.

Delgado giggled a bit and was looking forward to making memories with their kids and said "good morning you three, how'd you sleep?"

"I slept great, I had an amazing dream that I was driving a tank and blowing stuff up," Tony said as he ate excitedly, wagging his tail and starting to perk up a bit.

"Yeah..." Terrence said, not as perked up yet but they knew he'd get there.

"It was great! What are we going to do today, dad?" Tina said and was wagging her tail, she had been looking forward today as much as the others.

"Today, I'm going to get a tree so we can decorate for Christmas a bit," Dante said with a chuckle, happy that the three of them seemed to be excited.

"Yup, I know you three are going to love it as much as we are," Delgado said with a smile and watch them eat and couldn't wait to get started.

"Can I come with you?" Tina asked with a grin as she and her brothers ate. The three of them being excited to get started already, which was a welcome change.

"No, Tina, you stay and help daddy Delgado with your brothers," Dante said with a laugh and got back to eating as well.

Delgado nodded in agreement as he ate and said "yes Dante needs to go by himself if our plan to get a tree in the first place is to work and besides I need all the help I can get to have the house ready for it".

"Yep, you three be good and listen to Papa for me," Dante said once he finished and got up, the pups got up and ran over to give Dante a hug which Dante happily returned before they went back to eating as Dante walked to the door after kissing Delgado.

Delgado kissed him back and waved him goodbye as he left before finishing up his breakfast.

Three kids finished eating not too long after him and got up, putting their bowls in the sink and trying to keep from getting in too much trouble as Dante and Delgado had said they wouldn't do any decorating if they didn't behave.

Delgado smiled and helped them with the dishes, happy to see them behave like this.

Once they finished with the dishes, the pups ran to the living room excitedly and waited for Delgado. The three of them wanted to play but Delgado had said he'd need their help getting the room ready.

"Okay kids we need to make room for the tree to go up, shouldn't be too hard, all we really need to do is rearrange the furniture a bit thankfully," Delgado said as he took in a deep breath to get ready.

"Alright, papa... Um, what do you want us to do first?" Tony asked as the three of them listened for what Delgado was going to tell them.

"Let's move the T.V. and chair away from the window to start and after that, we'll have to push the sofa back a bit," Delgado said and then got to work doing just that.

The pups were quick to help, not fussing or anything as the three of them really wanted to do this. They'd even picked ornaments and everything already, so they didn't want to get in trouble now.

Delgado smiled as he got to helping him. Truthfully he wished he could do this on his own and just let them enjoy the fun parts of the holiday while they were still young but without his hind legs, he wouldn't make much headway on his own. Maybe they could have planned things better but it was too late now.

It wasn't too long before they got done, while the pups weren't quite big enough to move things on their own they managed to combine their strength as best they could. By the time it was all finished the three pups sat on the floor panting and ready for a break, taking a minute to catch their breath. "Papa, can we have some water?" Tony asked as he and his siblings panted from the work.

Delgado was panting a bit as well and said "yeah I think we can all use a water break" and with that, he went to go get them all some water.

Without another word, the pups got to drinking, but at least they had got most of it done.

Delgado got to drinking as well and once they were done and all of them caught their breath Delgado said "alright now that I take another look I think we have everything ready, we just have to wait for Dante to get home with the tree, thankfully we talked the humans we got it from into setting it up for us".

"Oh, but we still get to decorate right?" Tina asked and turned her head to the side, her brothers looking to Delgado and wondering the same.

"Of course sweetheart, they'll just get the tree standing in its place for us, I don't think we could do that part even with Dante's help," Delgado said and kissed Tina on her forehead.

"Ah okay," Tina said with a giggle, and noticed Tony seemed a bit uneasy so went over to hug him.

"Can I stay in my room while the humans are over? Humans seem scary," Tony said as Terrence looked at him and sighed.

"But, humans give us food and pats when they see us. I'm sure it'll be fine," Terrence said and tried to encourage Tony.

"Terrence if Tony wants to be in his room while they're here then he can, and Tony while I won't make you stay if you really don't want to your brother has a point, there's nothing to fear from these Humans and I promise you if you do stay you won't regret it," Delgado said showing off his parenting skills.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine and I'm sure dad and papa would make sure of who they were bringing," Tina said and patted her brother's back.

"Okay, I'll think about it..." Tony said, which satisfied Terrence and Tina enough though they both still hugged Tony.

Delgado smiled and joined the hug more than happy with his kids getting along like this.

"Wanna play tug of war?" Terrence asked which the other two happily nodded and ran to get the three-way rope they had, so all three could play at once.

Delgado smiled at that and laid down where he could watch the three of them play while they waited for Dante to get back.

The three of them played for a good well, none of them gaining or giving an inch as they pulled against each other. It wasn't much longer before Dante came in with a smile as he noticed the kids playing.

"Hey love, we got done pretty fast getting the living room set up so the kids have been playing for a bit while we waited for you to get back," Delgado said giving Dante a nuzzle before he continued with "where's the Humans by the way? they are going to get the tree in its spot right?"

"They should arrive in a minute, they have the address and all," Dante said and sat next to Delgado to wait for the humans to show up while the pups played.

Delgado nodded and leaned his head on Dante's shoulder as they watched their kids play in silence.

After a bit, there was a knock and Dante went to answer. Seeing the humans bringing the tree in as the pups played and didn't say anything since they wouldn't understand him.

Once Delgado heard the knock he went over to Tony and let him know the Humans were there and said "hey buddy the Humans are here, are you going to your room or are you sticking around?"

"I want to keep playing," Tony said as his siblings stopped for a moment as well, Dante doing his best to get the humans to set the tree where he wanted it.

Delgado nodded at that and went to go help Dante out with the tree placement.

Once the humans got the tree set up and with much confusion they left, Dante closed the door behind them and went over to get the decorations.

Delgado figured Dante could handle getting the decorations so he went over to their kids and said "alright you three it's time to get ready to decorate the tree".

With that the kids dropped the rope and ran over to Delgado, grinning and wagging their tails while Dante brought in the boxes of decorations.

Once Dante sat the boxes down Delgado said: "alright we have more decorations then that'll fit on the tree so grab your favorites and stick them anywhere they'll fit on the tree" and with that, he opened the boxes and let the kids pick the first three ornaments.

The pups nodded and found the first three ornaments they wanted, specifically the ones they picked out for themselves, and ran over to put them on the tree as Dante watched. "Careful you three, getting stabbed with hooks or stepping on broken glass will not be fun," Dante said, his inner dad coming out a bit when he saw them run.

"Dante's right you three, the tree isn't going anywhere and we have all day," Delgado said agreeing with Dante.

All three pups slowed down, overall they'd been a pretty well-behaved trio though it didn't mean they didn't get into trouble. Being a bit more careful as they each decided where to put the ornaments.

Dante smiled and was happy that they seemed to be listening to them without a word, watching as he nuzzled Delgado.

Delgado smiled and nuzzled Dante back. If Delgado was being honest he was worried about the kids listening to them as they hadn't known the two of them until recently but was relieved when that didn't turn out to be a problem.

"Doesn't it seem strange that they don't act up much at all, I don't know... In the back of my mind it feels off," Dante whispered when he knew the kids wouldn't hear.

"Now that you mention it is a bit odd, you think Joan or one of her 'boyfriends' did anything to them?" Delgado whispered back, the thought made Delgado sick to his stomach but he couldn't deny the possibility.

"I won't rule it out, maybe we overlooked details... They probably wouldn't tell us if we asked so we'll need to come up with a plan... I mean, it feels off... But, we could be looking too much into it. Then again... Tony mentioned something about one of Joan's 'boyfriends' being mean," Dante said and put an arm around Delgado.

"Alright, we can't do anything right now anyway so let's just focus on making this day a happy memory for all five of us and see what we can do later," Delgado said leaning his head on Dante's shoulder as they watched them put up the ornaments.

"I agree, we can look into it later for now it seems they're enjoying themselves," Dante said he watched over the pups who seemed to be managing to get them on without too much trouble.

Delgado nodded at that and smiled as he got back to watching the three of them decorate the tree and seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves.

Dante went to help the kids reach the higher up part of the tree and had the topper ready to put on it, fixing it here and there and after a bit, they finally finished decorating.

"It looks nice kids, very nice work," Delgado said giving the three of them a hug.

"Yep, it turned out great," Dante said and hugged the kids as well, who hugged them back. "Oh, I almost forgot," Dante said and went over to open the freezer, having placed some dog-friendly ice cream in there. The three looked curious as to what Dante was doing, not sure what he was getting.

Delgado giggled a bit having known Dante was going to surprise them with this for a while now and waited for Dante to bring it over before saying anything.

"Alright, you three have been really good so I have a special treat. Come over here and take a seat," Dante said as the kids walked over, curious what their dad had, and took a seat. Dante sat a small carton in front of each of them, knowing they'd love it.

"Oh, ice cream? You mean it?" Terrence asked and was wagging his tail excited as Dante chuckled and nodded before the three of them excitedly began eating it.

Delgado walked over to them and giggled a bit before he said "Dante here has been planning on letting you three try this dog-friendly ice cream for a while now so I hope you savor it".

"Yeah, we won't be able to get it a lot but we felt you three needed a treat," Dante said with a laugh as well, watching the three eating the ice cream and starting to settle down a little.

"You three want to watch a Christmas movie? I think that would be a nice way to wrap up the day" Delgado suggested pretty sure they hadn't seen many if any Christmas related movies before now.

"That sounds great," Dante agreed even if he wasn't the one being asked. "Yeah, let's watch one," Tina said as they finished their ice cream, her brothers nodding while lapping what was left.

Delgado nodded at that and went to turn on the T.V. and pick out a movie that he thought the kids would like.

Dante laid on the sofa, the pups getting up next to him as they waited for Delgado.

After a while, Delgado picked one out and went to lay down with them as it got started.

They all cuddled and watched the movie in silence, having enjoyed how today went. Soon enough they'd fall asleep as they cuddled on the couch without a care in the world.


	27. More Than They Bargained For

DJ was practicing for another gig, to say he was excited was an understatement, he noticed the clock and stopped to go check on Da Vinci. He knew she'd be up soon, and wanted to make sure she was doing okay.

Da Vinci was beginning to stir and groaned a bit. Morning sickness had started to kick in every day now "it'll be worth it once they're out of you Da Vinci" she reminded herself as DJ came in.

"How are you doing, love?~" DJ said to which he already knew the answer but wanted to check on her.

"Same as yesterday and the day before love, I feel like shit and I'll probably need a bucket but I'll be fine in a few hours," Da Vinci said just being blunt with DJ. She appreciated him checking in on her but she wasn't in the mood to be anything but snappy but she knew he understood why.

"Well, we knew what we were getting into," DJ said and gave her a nearby trash can, their parents and siblings hadn't pulled any punches describing the process. Da Vinci was in for a rough time and they both knew it, but they both planned on getting through it together.

After throwing up a bit in the trash can Da Vinci said "Okay I'm feeling a bit better after that, and yeah I know love, but I'll be glad once this is all over" she looked at her belly which was getting pretty big at this point, she was glad she was still able to paint for the most part even if DJ had to drop off her paintings for her now when she wanted to sell one.

"One day at a time Da Vinci, and just let me know if you need anything as always. I'll take out the trash and then get us some breakfast, love you," DJ said and kissed her forehead before taking the trash out. He came back after a bit with two bowls of kibble for her and him. "Still, the hardest part hasn't come yet. Think you're ready for it?" DJ asked, wanting to hear what she had to say.

Da Vinci kissed him back before he left and once he came back with the bowls she said "no and I don't think I will be given what our sisters have said but I don't have much of a choice at this point" she giggled a bit at that but she really was very nervous about this.

"I'll be with you every step of the way, I think everyone told me you will be a completely different person that day," DJ said with a chuckle and stroked her fur, his brothers having given him plenty of advice for this as well.

"Thanks love, and I'm sorry in advance for anything I do or say to you when it happens," Da Vinci said and gave DJ a nuzzle.

"It's alright, love. D1 even said Destiny can't even stand it, to give me a scale to base it on and given how much she can handle under normal circumstances..." DJ said and nuzzled Da Vinci back, already knowing Da Vinci would not be in a good mood when the day came to finally have them.

Da Vinci giggled a bit and said "yeah that says it all right there honestly, I think I'm feeling well enough to start eating now".

"But, he also said once they're out and you see the pups for the first time that you'll never want to go back," DJ said, giving Da Vinci a kiss before they both got to eating.

Da Vinci smiled at that as they got to eating in silence. She knew it was all going to be worth it once it was all said and done, she'd just have to tough it out for now and she knew she could count on DJ when she needed him.

DJ ate in silence as well, unable to take his eyes off her as they ate. He was excited about it and was already wanting to see his pups but he knew he couldn't rush that.

Once Da Vinci was done eating she felt a bump from inside her "they're kicking again~ want to feel my belly for a bit love?~"

"Alright, dear~," DJ said and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing Da Vinci's belly and feeling the pups move. It just felt so surreal, and yet he couldn't help but smile.

Da Vinci smiled as he did so and was really enjoying being in his arms like this. It was just as surreal for her as it was DJ and every once and a while DJ could feel the pups kicking from inside of her.

DJ nuzzled Da Vinci and just set there for a minute, enjoying the moment and closing his eyes. He wouldn't trade this for the world, just embracing his wife as she carried their pups and was enjoying every second he had with her.

Da Vinci nuzzled him back and just enjoyed the moment as well feeling like the luckiest girl in the world right now.

"What should we do today, love?" DJ asked as he continued the embrace and broke the silence, smiling as he continued to feel the pups kicking.

"I'm not sure, I guess we can just talk for a bit and go from there, how has work been lately? still getting bigger and bigger in the music scene I'm guessing?~" Da Vinci asked, they had been focusing mostly on Da Vinci for a bit as she was the pregnant one but she did want to know how DJ had been doing.

"It's been going great and I really am, though I did announce I'll be taking a break so I could spend some time with family. Didn't exactly specify an exact reason, which is causing some speculation," DJ said with a chuckle having wanted to take time off to spend with Da Vinci and help her out while they waited for the pups to arrive.

Da Vinci nodded at that and said: "yeah that's what I thought and thanks love it means a lot, you could have just told them we're expecting I wouldn't have minded at all~" and with that she gave him another nuzzle and couldn't stop smiling.

"Hehe, maybe I'll announce it later~ Though, some have already guessed that~," DJ said with a chuckle and kissed Da Vinci.

Da Vinci kissed him back and said "Alright~ let me know how that goes~ by the way I'm glad I finished painting our kid's walls before I got too big, it's so hard to move like this, I'm pretty sure we have an above-average litter size~".

"Might talk with mom~ Though, it's not unheard of for Dalmatians to have 15 pups at a time~ Oh dog, we might have our paws full~," DJ said with a goofy grin as his eyes lit up.

"Oh Dog, 15... yeah we should talk to mom soon and just confirm how many puppies we should expect," Da Vinci said giggling a bit and while she knew it would be overwhelming a part of her was secretly hoping they'd have 15 puppies running around.

"Yeah, we should call her and let her see," DJ said with a chuckle, feeling happy with any number if he were honest.

"I think I'll take a nap for a while, I'm feeling a bit tired," Da Vinci said, yawning a bit and closing her eyes.

"Alright, you get some sleep and I take care of everything while you rest," DJ said and went to go make calls and take care of everything that needed to be done today.

"Alright DJ, love you," Da Vinci said as she laid back down and went back to sleep feeling very grateful for DJ to handle that while she wasn't able to.

"Love you too, Da Vinci," DJ said and went to call Delilah first, knowing she'd want an update on things.

Delilah answered right away having expected a call from them for a while now "hello DJ, how's Da Vinci doing?"

"She's okay at the moment, though she's curious as to how many she'll end up having. She believes it'll be more than the average pregnancy," DJ told Delilah, going ahead and letting her know.

"She very well might, our family has a bit of a history of having large litters, I can stop by in an hour with some equipment if you'd like DJ," Delilah said just being honest with DJ.

"I know there'd been some joking among the family about which sister would get that lucky 15. And alright mom, though she did want to sleep for a bit and I'm just doing some stuff while she does," DJ said chuckling a bit as he talked and was wagging his tail.

"Alright then DJ, honestly I'm free all day so just send me a text for whenever you're ready for me to stop by," Delilah said giggling a bit at that.

"I will, just wanted to give you a quick update. Love you, mom," DJ said and got ready to hang up, knowing they still had some things to get ready before the big day.

"Love you too DJ, see you soon," Delilah said as she hung up as well and went back to what she was doing.

DJ went and started cleaning among all the other chores that needed doing, he and Da Vinci normally worked together around the house but at the Da Vinci was barely able to do more than walk around their room and would get exhausted pretty easily so he did the chores without complaint. He did go ahead and announce why he took a break official on social media, which he knew would blow up but right now he wanted to get everything cleaned up and then go check on Da Vinci.

By the time DJ went to check on her Da Vinci was starting to wake up again "hey love~ how long was I out?" Da Vinci asked, seeing him come in.

"About an hour, I want me to let mom know she can come over. I wasn't sure how long you'd be asleep so I asked her to wait," DJ said as he closed the door behind him.

"Sure go ahead and ask her to come over, I really want to see how many pups we have~," Da Vinci said and gave him a nuzzle once he was close enough.

DJ nuzzled her back and nodded, making the call and waiting for Delilah to pick up. He was wagging his tail and ready to know how many pups they'd have.

Delilah picked up and said: "hello DJ, I take Da Vinci woke up?"

"Yep, she just did. I thought she'd be out for a couple more hours honestly, anyway we're ready when you are," DJ said with a chuckle.

"Alright I'll be right there DJ, see you in a bit sweetheart," Delilah said and got ready to hang up the phone so she could get ready to come over.

"Alright, mom," DJ said and hung up as well, going over and embracing Da Vinci.

Da Vinci wrapped her arms around DJ and was wagging her tail like crazy as she said "I love you DJ~ I can't wait for mom to get here~".

"I love you too, and me neither~" DJ said as he waited for Delilah's arrival so she could tell them how many there were.

After a while of them just cuddling up together like that they heard their doorbell ring "that must be mom, go ahead and let her in DJ" Da Vinci said and gave him one more kiss on his cheek.

DJ kissed her back and went to the door for Delilah. He was wagging his tail fast as he let her in.

"Hello DJ, help me get all the equipment into your room with Da Vinci," Delilah said with a smile and looked to be struggling to pull everything she brought with her.

"Of course, mom," DJ said and did just that, helping her carry everything to where Da Vinci was. Once it was there he let Delilah set it up, not wanting to mess anything up.

"Hey Mom," Da Vinci said and giggled a bit as Delilah got everything set up.

"Hey sweetie, don't worry this won't take long," Delilah said and quickly got everything ready and after a moment of the equipment doing their thing she continued with "congratulations you two, seems like Da Vinci here is the one to have 15 puppies this generation, I can even tell you how many of them will be boys compared to girls if you'd like".

"Oh my dog, oh my dog, oh my dog," DJ said and was really wagging his tail now, it took a minute to say more than that. "Go ahead, mom. I'd love to know," DJ said and was still wagging his tail excitedly.

Da Vinci was freaking out a bit internally but for the most part, she was excited as she waited for their mother to tell them how many boys and girls they're having.

"It's pretty even honestly, only one more boy then girl by the looks of things so eight boys and seven girls," Delilah said with a smile on her face as she was very happy for the two of them.

"A little surprising, and we could tell it would be a lot just by how hard it's been for Da Vinci to move around lately. I know she wasn't looking forward to the due date but she's really trying to push through," DJ told Delilah as he went over and stroked Da Vinci's fur able to tell how nervous she was. "I know it won't be a fun experience for her, but I have been trying to take care of her as best I could," DJ said as he talked with Delilah.

Delilah nodded at that and said: "I expect nothing else from you, DJ, I'm proud of you, but with her having this many puppies it might be wise for her to temporarily move back in with me and your father, at least when it's getting close to the due date anyway, I'm not going to lie, even if it's common in our family 15 puppies is a lot and has a much higher chance of something going wrong so you will need a skilled doctor to be there when it's time and not to toot my own horn but I trust no one more then myself with this job".

Once Delilah got done saying what she needed to Da Vinci looked at DJ and nodded knowing that said all that she needed to.

"I understand mom, she has been struggling to move further than our room and so I may need some help to move her. I'm not too proud to admit that it would better to get as much help as we can and I know all I have to do is ask, still a couple of weeks but we could try to get her over there in a couple of days and I'll be with her every step of the way," DJ explained and did admit his mom had a point, but he didn't have a way to transport Da Vinci to their mom's house.

"Alright DJ, I'll be back in a few days with your father and as many of your brothers as I can round up, remember DJ asking for help isn't a weakness, no one is going to think any less of you," Delilah said getting up "for now I suggest you both get some rest, I'll see you around, I'll be back for the equipment tomorrow, I'll see you later".

"See you mom, thanks again for all this" Da Vinci said and gave DJ a nuzzle.

"Thanks, mom. See you later, and I'll call you if anything happens," DJ said with a sigh as he nuzzled Da Vinci back. Laying down next to his wife and embracing Da Vinci.

Delilah nodded at that and left without another word "Well this has been a hell of a day love~ I can't believe we're having 15 puppies~" Da Vinci said as she wrapped her arms around DJ and was wagging her tail like crazy.

"Me neither~ I admit I am a little worried but with mom's help I'm sure you'll be okay," DJ said and kissed Da Vinci.

Da Vinci kissed him back and said "yeah I'm sure I'll be fine, I'm more worried about how we're going to take care of 15 puppies, pretty much all of them will have to share their room with a few of their siblings that much I know for sure but other than that I don't know."

"We may need to look into a new house with more room, to be honest, we moved here as it was just enough space for the two of us and we didn't consider we'd be the ones having 15 pups. We'll have to talk it over and look at what we can do," DJ said and was as concerned about that as she was, thinking of a way to solve that issue.

"I feel a bit bad about the rooms I painted, I gave them each a unique design and now they'll probably go unused but I can't argue that not being the smart move, we'll figure it out later I guess," Da Vinci said and closed her eyes.

"I know Da Vinci, I'm sorry that they might not get to appreciate your hard work. But, I know you'll take good care of them and that's the main thing," DJ said and tried to cheer her up, stroking her fur.

"Thanks love, and I guess nothing is stopping me from doing the same for the new rooms we'll set aside for our kids in our new home," Da Vinci said smiling and leaned her head on DJ "we're not having more kids after this, 15 is already pushing it and I'd rather not go through all this again if I'm being honest".

"15 is more than enough for me, I wasn't wanting that many, to begin with, and given how this pregnancy has been I don't blame you. But, I will be happy when they get here and I do hate seeing you barely able to move," DJ said and sighed before smiling and closing his eyes.

Da Vinci nodded at that and said: "yeah I'm happy with what we got, can you get me some food real quick before we take a nap? I'm eating for 16 so needless to say I've been hungry".

"Hehe, alright love~ And you've been really handling this pregnancy like a champ overall~," DJ said with a kiss before heading to the kitchen and he was still excited if a bit concerned.

Da Vinci giggled at that and kissed him back and then waited for him to get back.

DJ didn't take long as he brought her a bowl of kibble, he wasn't hungry so he didn't get a bowl for himself this time. He set the bowl in front of Da Vinci and began massaging her paws, always wanting to make her as comfortable as possible.

Da Vinci got to eating right away and was loving DJ massaging her paws like this and before she knew it she was done eating, having eaten a bit fast.

"I'm not sure you had to eat that fast love~ Anything else you need before we rest a bit?" DJ said softly and continued, wanting to make sure before they laid down.

Da Vinci giggled a bit "sorry, but I can't stress enough how hungry I've been here lately~ and I think I'm good for now, let's get some rest love~" and with that Da Vinci laid down and closed her eyes.

"I'll take hunger over the other side effects honestly, so far this pregnancy seemed like utter hell. If you'd realized how bad this would be do you think you still would've agreed?" DJ asked in concern as he laid down with her.

"Honestly I had a good idea going into it from everything our sisters and mom have said and I still did it so that should tell you everything you need to know~," Da Vinci said as she cuddled up with him.

"Hehe, that makes sense to me~," DJ said and closed his eyes, cuddling her back.

Da Vinci giggled at that and slowly fell back asleep feeling really good about all this.

DJ let himself relax and was wagging his tail as he fell asleep as well.


	28. Getting Ready for the Big Day

It had been a few days since Delilah's visit, and DJ was at the door as Doug had just arrived. "Hey, dad you have all you need?" DJ asked and as much as he put a smile on, it was obvious he felt nervous beyond belief.

"Yeah, of course, son. The Dimitris, Dora, Dawkins, and Deepak should be here in a bit, and not sure who else but we'll have more than enough help, and Deepak and Dora will mostly be here for moral support. I want you to relax, but first let's talk with Da Vinci," Doug explained and hugged DJ and patted his head to calm DJ down a little as Doug brought a wagon and blankets in.

"Yeah, she's in our room and I'm sure she won't mind," DJ said and took a deep breath as he led Doug to where Da Vinci was and entered.

Da Vinci was laying in their bed when they came in and once she saw who it was she said: "hey dad, thanks for all this, it means a lot".

"Of course, sweetheart. How are you holding up?" Doug said and laid next to Da Vinci pulling her in close and stroking her fur as DJ took a step back and let the two have a moment.

"About as well as I can be, all things considered, I mean I trust mom and all but even having three pups is really scary you know?" Da Vinci said leaning her head on Doug and closed her eyes.

"I know, baby. This next part is going to be really hard, but you're just like your mother in plenty of ways. You're gonna be strong and bare through it, I know that. I understand you both are a little scared, and I think I know what I'm talking about when I say that it's scary but at the same time it's a wonderful thing and once you see them for the first time... There's not really a way to describe it," Doug said and felt himself tearing up as he continued to comfort Da Vinci.

Da Vinci nodded at that and said "Thanks dad, I think I know what you mean, I love you, I just hope it goes by quickly, Destiny has told me all about how some litters take longer to come out then others".

"Yeah, your mother and I have plenty of experience with that," Doug said with a laugh and nuzzled Da Vinci, smiling as they waited for the others to arrive. "Just a little bit longer, sweetie. I want you to keep hanging in there for us," Doug said as he just held Da Vinci close.

Da Vinci nodded at that not having much more to say at this point.

DJ heard the doorbell ring as the two laid in silence for a bit, figuring that was his siblings and was ready to get started. Opening the door to see a lot of his siblings arrive, he noticed Deepak walking towards him.

"Hello DJ, sorry about not being able to help get Da Vinci to mom and dad's place but I can help calm your nerves if need be," Deepak said with a smile wanting to help out in any way he can.

"That's fine, looks like we have plenty of help and I'd appreciate it," DJ said as the others began to get the blankets ready for Da Vinci.

"Alright DJ, I'll be close by, don't be afraid to ask alright?" Deepak said before turning and started to walk with their siblings to go to DJ's and Da Vinci's room.

"Alright, let's get you laying on the blanket, come on dear," Doug said once the blanket was on the ground, the Dimitris and Dante as well as Dylan and Dawkins ready to lift her into the wagon with Dora off to the side keeping watch. DJ stayed next to Deepak, he trusted his brothers but couldn't stop shaking.

Da Vinci nodded at that and got up and waddled her way to the blankets and laid down on them, meanwhile Deepak noticed DJ shaking and got behind him before placing his paws on DJ's temples and said "breathe" doing what he did best while making sure he didn't give DJ a strong enough dosage that he didn't drop to the ground.

"Alright, now lift, and carefully move forward," Doug instructed as directed the boys on what to do and they walked carefully as Dora made sure everything was fine and that they had a clear path. DJ started to calm down at Deepak's touch and followed as well, just trying to relax for now.

Da Vinci just took in deep breaths as they carried her to the wagon and was glad she had everyone here to help her out.

"Dora, keep the wagon steady. Follow everything I say carefully boys, and Da Vinci stay as still and calm as you can be," Doug said as they made it to the wagon and Doug lowered the gate so they could get Da Vinci in easier and after a moment of carefully sliding Da Vinci into the wagon they were ready to go and DJ let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Da Vinci nodded at that and said "Alright Dad, thanks again everyone, I don't know what I would do without any of you" and with that she tried her best to do as her father told her to do.

"Of course, Da Vinci. We can't let our sister down," Dora said as Doug began to pull the wagon with everyone else following along. Everyone did their best to let Da Vinci have as smooth a ride as possible, they'd all could see how hard it was for Da Vinci to move around and just wanted her to be comfy. Doug was careful though did accidentally hit a small bump or two as they made their way to their destination.

Da Vinci did her best to stay as calm as she could throughout all of this, though her heart did race a bit for a second whenever Doug hit a bump. The staying still part wasn't that hard since she had gotten pretty good at that since her belly started getting big.

It wasn't much longer before they reached their parents house as Doug and everyone made sure to get the wagon up to the door as carefully and safely as they could, doing their best not to scare Da Vinci too badly. The door was opened and it seemed everyone else had been waiting on them and soon enough everyone managed to get Da Vinci in the house before letting out sighs of relief.

Da Vinci let out a sigh of relief as they got her out of the wagon and said "Thanks everyone, I think I can manage to get to the room I'm staying in from here assuming it's on the ground floor".

"Alright, Da Vinci and like hell would any of us make you have to go up the stairs in this condition," D1 said as he panted to catch his breath as DJ and Dante helped Da Vinci out of the wagon. Doug and the others shot D1 a look as there were young pups nearby. "I know, I know I gotta watch what I say around here," D1 said apologetically, knowing he should be more careful what he says around his kids and nieces and nephews.

Da Vinci giggled at that and said "do you mind showing me the way to the room dad? I think it goes without saying that I want to lay down cuddled up with DJ for a while in there".

"Yeah, let's go and get you to your room," Doug said and didn't say much more to that, still having some hang-ups but was happy for his kids and headed towards a nearby room that they set up for Da Vinci and DJ. "Oh I remember that room, looks a lot nicer," D1 muttered jokingly to himself and caused Dylan to chuckle and roll his eyes at his brother. DJ just shook his head D1 and followed Doug and Da Vinci inside.

Once inside Da Vinci laid down on the bed that was laid out for her and said "I know I said it before dad but really thank you, you have no idea how much this means to us" and with that she waited for DJ to join her.

"Of course, sweetie. All of us want to make sure you're well taken care of and if you two need help all you have to do is ask, I really am proud of both of you. For now, I'll give you two some space just call someone if you need something as everyone will be right here for a bit," Doug said as he left the two alone and closed the door, remembering that D1 and Destiny had something they wanted to announce to the family as well and he could take a guess as to what it was.

"Alright, dad will do, love you," Da Vinci said before closing her eyes and cuddling up to DJ.

Meanwhile, Destiny was sitting with D1 waiting for everyone to show up so they could make their announcement "I feel a bit bad about doing this right now, everyone is here for Da Vinci and the kids she is about to have but I don't know when if at all we'll get a better chance to tell everyone at once" Destiny said whispering to D1.

"Love you too, sweetheart," Doug said right before he left and went to see what his other two children wanted to announce.

DJ cuddled Da Vinci back and closed his eyes, letting himself relax knowing this was going to make things a lot easier.

"Yeah, I admit the timing feels poor but since we're all here we can let everyone know," D1 said and was wagging his tail, happy for Da Vinci and DJ but just wanted to go ahead with this.

Destiny nodded at that and once she saw Doug coming she took one last look around making sure everyone was there and said: "Alright everyone me and D1 have something to tell everyone and before we say it I just want to let everyone know that we are aware that now may not be the best time for this but we don't know when we'll get everyone together again".

"What Destiny said, and we're happy for Da Vinci and DJ and we do want to let the focus be on them for the most part. Now, just to get this out of the way and let everyone in the know... Destiny and I are expecting again," D1 said with a grin as he waited to see everyone's reaction, though he still felt bad bringing this up now.

Destiny tried to smile and act like she wasn't nervous but it was clear as day that the years out of the acting world hadn't done her skills any favors as she waited to see how everyone was going to react to this.

After a minute or two everyone began congratulating them and the younger pups were hoping and down in excitement, Doug pulled them into a hug and gave a chuckle and smiled.

Destiny let out a sigh of relief and hugged Doug back and giggled a bit and was grateful that they didn't take it badly though with hindsight she was wondering how she thought they were going to after they made it clear they weren't trying to be malicious at all.

D1 sighed in relief too, he was glad this went well and while he could tell some of them felt it was a little inconsiderate he knew they weren't too upset with it. It was a good minute later before everyone settled back down and as Da Vinci had asked to be given some space for now, everyone was just happy everything had gone well.

Destiny sat down with D1 as everyone got to talking amongst themselves and said "I'm glad that went well, I wish there had been a better way to do that, especially since I've already had a few litters and this will probably be Da Vinci's one and only".

"Yeah, I agree, and from how she looked and moved along with everything else I know... I can't really blame her..." D1 said and sighed, kind of wishing they'd kept everyone out of the loop but had really wanted to get the announcement out of the way. Looking on the bright side, Da Vinci was close to having her litter and Destiny still had a ways to go.

Destiny nodded at that and wasn't sure what else to say at that point so she just leaned her head on D1's shoulder and closed her eyes.

D1 put an arm around Destiny and just watched the kids play, smiling as they all seemed to be getting along and was just happy to see everyone enjoying themselves.

"I'm really glad everyone's kids seem to get along, I'm not going to lie when we all start having them. A part of me was worried they wouldn't but I'm glad to be proven wrong this time" Destiny said giggling a bit as she watched her kids playing with their cousins.

"Yeah, they always seem happy to see each other and that's all I could ask for honestly," D1 said and gave Destiny a kiss, just holding her close to him for now.

Destiny giggled a bit and kissed D1 back and said "Yeah same here love".

D1 just happened to notice Diesel and Deja Vu out of the corner of his and smirked a little. They hadn't said it, but the family had pretty much bet on the two getting together eventually.

Destiny noticed them as well and giggled a bit and said "I'm pretty sure those two are already together at this point, I mean have you seen the way they've been looking at each other? it's like they aren't even trying to hide it".

"Yeah, I think it's a bit obvious at this point. But, we'll let them tell us on their own," D1 said with a chuckle and was very happy for the two.

"Yeah whenever they're ready it will be fine even if the whole family saw it coming a mile away" Destiny said with a laugh and was just as happy for them as D1 was.

"Of course, just glad everyone's happy again and can't wait for all the new additions we'll be having soon," D1 said and leaned against Destiny with a smile.

"Same here love, Dora even told me D3 and her were going to look into adopting some mixed breed puppies soon so that'll be interesting," Destiny said with a smile having known how important being a mother was to Dora.

"Yeah, those two really seem to have managed to move past things. It was hard for Dora and I could tell D3 was pretty hurt by the news as well, but maybe this'll be better for them and they'll be giving some pups a loving home. Though Dora did joke that at least she'll miss out on the 'joys' of pregnancy," D1 said as he thought it over with a chuckle and smiled.

Destiny giggled at that and said "All's well that ends well I suppose, I'm happy for them and really glad they worked things out".

D1 nodded at that not really sure what more to say as he just held Destiny close to him. He was happy for his brother as well as his sister and just glad the two worked so well together.

After a while, it looked like everyone was getting ready to head home for the time being, and Destiny said: "round up our kids for our love, I'll go get our ride home, I'll be careful I promise so don't worry".

"Alright, love, and the kids look like they'll be wanting a nap soon anyway," D1 said and got up to get the pups, seeing them having settled down a bit and was glad they at least got all the playing out of their system for now.

Destiny nodded at that and made her way towards the door "Bye everyone, me and D1 are going to head home" she said, calling out to the whole family, it wasn't uncommon for someone in their family to tell everyone goodbye at once given the ever-growing number of family members there was.

Everyone said their goodbyes and all six of D1's pups happily followed once they saw their dad rounding them up and followed him out the door, now that Da Vinci was safely in her temporary room and it seemed everything was good, everyone soon began to leave as well.


	29. Christmas Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late Christmas chapter still feel it was good though

The pups woke up early Christmas morning, really excited as they'd had a big day planned. There would be a few others showing up from what their dads had said and they looked forward to that.

Delgado was beginning to stir a bit as he slept in Dante's arms as he heard their kids heading their way, he looked at the clock and it showed it was six in the morning, and with a sigh, he said "Come on love, it's Christmas and I can hear that the kids are already awake".

"Alright, honey... Our first Christmas with them and it should be fun. By the way, you were careful about who you said was coming over right?" Dante said as he kissed Delgado and began to get up to get Delgado's wheelchair for him.

"Yeah, this should be a nice memory to look back on and of course Dante, the kids have no idea who's joining us today," Delgado said, kissing him back and sat up while he waited for Dante to get his wheelchair.

"Good, for now let's see what Santa got the kids," Dante said with a chuckle and winked at Delgado as he brought Delgado his wheelchair and helped him in as he usually would.

Delgado giggled at that and winked back at him before getting in his wheelchair with Dante's help "Alright let's go".

Dante just opened the door to all three kids who jumped up and hugged Dante yelling "Merry Christmas!" at the top of their lungs. Dante just chuckled at that and hugged them too. "Merry Christmas you three," Dante said as the pups ran over to hug Delgado as well.

Delgado giggled a bit and hugged them back and said "Merry Christmas you three, come on let's go see what Santa brought you this year".

"Oh yeah, let's go!" Terrence said and ran to the living room following his siblings, as Dante chuckled and followed them as well. Tina and Tony were close behind and excited to see what they got this year, they weren't used to getting a lot so they were in for a surprise.

Delgado just laughed a bit and called out to them with "wait for me and Dante before you start opening your presents, kids".

The three stopped in the living and were wagging their tails as Dante walked in to show them whose presents were whose. Dante waited for Delgado to come in before telling the kids to go ahead.

Delgado came in and sat down next to Dante and smiled as the kids got ready to open their gifts. Delgado was still a racer so he tended to go for a morning run when he could just to maintain his speed but as he got older he learned to slow down and just enjoy the simple things in life, and not just run everywhere all the time.

"Alright, kids. You three go ahead and see what all you got," Dante said and watched as the kids got to it and all three seemed awestruck as they noticed they'd gotten a lot of stuff this year, and most of it seemed better than what they were used to.

"We must've been really good this year..." Tony said in confusion and shrugged, Dante gave Delgado a look as he realized the gifts were significantly better than what they were used to and was thinking Delgado came up with a decent cover story for that.

"Oh, a skateboard? I've been wanting one, Aunt Dolly said she used to so maybe she can teach," Tina said to herself as she scooted the skateboard along the floor.

"Oh uh, I heard Santa hired more elves this year so they could make more and better gifts for all the good boys and girls Tony," Delgado said, saying the first thing that came to mind.

The three pups just shrugged and got back to opening presents, not really caring to push the issue further and were more interested in the presents.

"Hehe, guess that'll do," Dante whispered with a chuckle and nuzzled Delgado.

Delgado giggled at that and nuzzled Dante back as they watched their kids have fun with their gifts.

Dante just watched the pups opening their presents one by one. It was still early so he knew the others wouldn't be here for a while.

Once the kids had opened all their gifts Delgado got up and said: "Alright, we let you three open your gifts first this year since it's the first one you'll be staying with us for but we should all really eat some breakfast now before long".

The kids began wagging their tails at that, starting to feel a bit hungry and Dante nodded at that before heading to the kitchen.

Delgado giggled a bit and followed behind Dante with the kids close behind them and got to making breakfast for all five of them.

Dante helped Delgado and it wasn't long before they all had a bowl of kibble in front of them. "Alright, dig in everyone," Dante said as they got to eating.

Delgado smiled as their kids got to eating before he got to eating as well.

After a few minutes everyone finished up and the pups couldn't stop wagging their tails as they'd been really enjoying their first Christmas with their dads.

"Okay kids, our guests won't be coming over for another few hours, you can play with your gifts until then but once they arrive we'll need to put them up for a while," Delgado said getting up and starting walking back to the living room.

"Alright, papa," the kids said and ran into the living room to play with their new toys, Dante went in as well he would've gone back to bed but with this being their first Christmas with the pups he wanted to stay up and enjoy it with them.

Delgado giggled a bit and went with Dante and laid down next to him as the kids played with their toys.

Dante watched the pups play as he just cuddled next to Delgado, wanting to enjoy the quiet moment with his family, and was wagging his tail as he was glad the pups had been enjoying themselves.

Delgado cuddled Dante back as he watched the kids play and was just as happy to see them enjoying themselves as well. If Delgado was being honest this wasn't how he saw Dante and him getting kids at all but now that these three were in their lives he wouldn't trade them for anything.

Dante didn't say a word, he'd been planning on talking about adopting with Delgado before the pups showed up and he did admit that while it was a mistake, he didn't want to change it now.

Time seemed to fly by at that point and before they knew it they heard a knock at the door.

Dante got up to answer and turned to the kids. "Alright, you three get your stuff put up so we have plenty of room," Dante told them and all three did as they were told as Dante opened the door.

Delgado went to help the kids put their stuff up while Dante answered the door.

"Merry Christmas," Dante said as he opened the door with a smile wanting to see who had knocked while the kids managed to get their stuff put up fairly quickly.

"Merry Christmas Dante," D2 said with a laugh. Standing with him was Dawkins and Joan having gotten back from rehab for the holidays.

"Alright, and Delgado should be helping the kids get their things in the room," Dante said and noticed Delgado was keeping the kids in their room for the moment as he let the three of them in.

"Thanks for this, I have been improving lately as well," Joan said as she entered, and went to sit down.

"Yes, things have progressed smoothly and we felt it would be nice to let her see the kids for Christmas at least," Dawkins said as he sat down and waited for Dante to get the kids and even had a few presents for them himself.

"Yeah with the way things are going Joan could probably live on her own in a year or two from what the dogs at rehab have said," D2 said as they came in and sat down.

"That's good, your brothers did mention coming over so this might get a bit awkward but shouldn't be too much of a problem," Dante said and decided to go get the kids.

"They'll be on their best behavior, might as well let the kids come in now," Dawkins said as he watched Dante go.

D2 nodded at that and started thinking that over for a bit.

Meanwhile, as Dante was getting close to the kid's room he could hear Delgado say "I know we already got everything put up but please just wait a little bit longer okay? it'll be worth the wait I promise".

The pups just nodded but felt a bit confused as to what they were waiting for as Dante arrived and knocked on the door.

"Alright, Del~ Go ahead and bring them out," Dante said with a smile as he waited for Delgado to open the door.

Delgado let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding and opened the door before he said "alright kids let's head back to the living room, me and Dante have a surprise for you".

The pups walked into the living room with Dante and Delgado behind them and as soon as they saw who there, their eyes lit up as they ran to Joan and began hugging licking her too excited to say anything as they wagged their tails and it was obvious Joan was happy to see them too as Dawkins smiled at the scene.

Delgado smiled as he watched their kids overjoyed to see their mother again and D2 just laughed a bit.

Dante let the pups and Joan have a moment as the last time they saw each other wasn't a fun experience for anyone involved and Dawkins shared Dante's thoughts on that.

Delgado laid down on the ground and was just going to let them have as long as they needed and D2 planned on doing no different.

It was a moment before another knock on the door came and Dante went to answer. He checked who it was and opened it, and went outside to close the door as he realized it was Dora and D3. "Before you two come in, I want you both to try and not make a scene in front of the kids," Dante said earnestly, wanting to make sure he heard them say they'd keep their cool themselves.

"Dante, she's... It's Christmas, and as much as I hate her I do want to try and enjoy my time with my family... I promise not to strangle her, but that's as much as I can say," Dora said with a sigh and just closed her eyes, not wanting to see Joan again at all.

"What Dora said, we'll be civil but only because it's Christmas," D3 said not wanting to see Joan any more than Dora did but didn't want to fight over it with what day it was and all.

"Alright, I'll take it..." Dante said and let them inside and noticed D1 and Destiny weren't far behind with their pups. He figured Delgado and the others would be able to keep the peace while he tried to get D1 and Destiny's word as well while he was at it.

Destiny walked up to the house with D1 in tow and said "hey Dante before you say anything yes we'll behave and won't make a scene in front of the kids".

"Yes, what she said for the kid's sake and I'll do my best to keep my thoughts to myself," D1 said as he looked at Dante as he already talked about this with Destiny and everyone else.

"Good, let's just get the pups out of the cold shall we?" Dante said and wasn't surprised by Destiny guessing why he was waiting for them at all, which was fine as he didn't want the pups freezing outside.

Destiny nodded at that and they all went inside and out of the cold.

Everyone set down in a free spot as the pups started to get settled down, and Dante began passing out presents. Dora and D1 one both just tried to put on a smile as the pups greeted them and got seated to open their presents, Dante knew this wasn't the easiest for the two as they've made it no secret how they felt about Joan which he had to admit that he had a hard time letting it all go himself and was still shocked that D2 was actually trying to help her.

"Merry Christmas," Joan said with an awkwardness that came with the territory as she tried to be friendly to the new arrivals who she could tell wouldn't hesitate to stab her if they could've gotten away with it.

"Merry Christmas," Dora said and closed her eyes, biting her lip to stop the next word she wanted to say come out.

"Look I'm just going to come out say it," D2 said as he noticed the tension in the air and took in a deep breath "I understand where you're all coming from but what she did wrong she did to me, and while I didn't intend on helping her when I went to go see her, I don't know what my game plan was there if I'm being honest, but I moved on from all that years ago, and if you saw what I did that day I went to go see her I think you'd understand why I'm doing this".

D3 let out a sigh at that and tried to relax a bit. He saw that the kids were a bit confused by that but they didn't look like they were going to say anything about it.

D1 closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as best he could right now. "I trust you..." That was all he said in a small but still audible tone, and Dora nodded at that as she noticed the kids were looking around at them confused and knew it wasn't a battle worth fighting at the moment.

Dante just sighed in relief that D2's words seemed to ease the tension and everyone knew D2 had a point as it was his decision to forgive Joan and not theirs.

Delgado let out a sigh of relief at that and got up to help Dante hand out presents and the get- together finally started in earnest with everyone talking amongst themselves and the kids opening their gifts.

Once everyone got all their presents, Dante went to set down next to Delgado and finally began opening their presents as well and even acting surprised at what they got from the kids as everyone opened their presents.

Dawkins didn’t want to admit it but he'd definitely been warming to the idea of D2 and him adopting once they got married officially as he watched his nephews and nieces excitedly opening present after present and he was sure D2 noticed him warming up to the kids a lot more.

Dora was just happy the kids were enjoying themselves and while she and D3 really were disappointed they didn't get the option of at least trying on their own, she was excited to adopt when the time came.

Delgado cuddled up to Dante as they opened their gifts from the kids and pretended to be surprised as well.

D2 just giggled a bit from the look on Dawkins's face and having been with him for so long he could tell what was on his mind without even needing to ask.

D3 was thinking much of the same as Dora was but was at least put at ease that adopting was their choice in the end and was looking forward to it.

Destiny giggled a bit and cuddled up to D1, she had mixed feelings about this whole thing when she heard that Joan was going to be here but right now she was glad they came.

It wasn't long before everyone finished, and while Joan hadn't gotten any presents at all she was content that at least the pups seemed to have the time of their lives.

Dante just hugged the kids once they finished and chuckled as all the pups began playing with each other, glad to see them having fun and making friends at least.

After a long while with the kids playing with each other and everyone talking things started to die down and it wouldn't be much longer before the sun would start to set.

"Wow, looks like times flown by. Alright, guys hate to break the party up but all of you should try and make it home before it gets too dark," Dante said and had enjoyed it but did want to make sure his family got back home safely.

"Yeah alright, we should get going, don't want to end up walking home in the dark and all," D3 said getting up having spent most of the party talking with D1 and D2.

"Yeah it's not that far of a walk for us but better safe than sorry," D2 said getting up as well.

"Pregnant wife and six kids in the city when it's dark and freezing, no way. It's been fun but we should get going," D1 said and had been about ready to call it a day himself as he got up and went over to get Destiny who had been chatting with Dora.

Joan had mostly been by herself with Dawkins being polite and keeping her company while talking with Dante and Delgado. "Yeah, guess we should get going," Joan said and got up, ready to go as she told the pups goodbye.

"Alright, everyone have a goodnight and be careful," Dante said as everyone got their things.

Soon enough everyone was out the door and on their way home and it was just Dante Delgado and the kids again "that went way better than I thought it would" Delgado said once the door was closed behind them.

"Yeah, it went a lot smoother than I'd expected. You kids go play or something, while I talk with your papa," Dante said with a sigh of relief at the party being over, ready to just relax with his family.

The kids went to their room to go play, and as soon as they were out of earshot Delgado said "They were so happy to see Joan again, it was actually very cute to see, but I know they have a ton of questions that I don't know how to answer even if they haven't asked them yet..."

"Same here, let's go to our room and talk for now. I want to have some time alone with you anyway," Dante said as he got up to head to their room, wanting to cuddle Delgado as they talked.

Delgado nodded at that and followed behind Dante and was more than ready to lay down for a while anyway.

"I would ask, but we're both exhausted and the pups are still awake so our favorite Christmas activity will have to wait for another day~," Dante said with a chuckle as he opened the door for Delgado and entered behind him.

"Hehe~ maybe we can ask mom to look after them for a day so we have the house to ourselves soon~ but yeah for right now let's just hold off on that" Delgado said giggling a bit as he went in and started getting out of his wheelchair.

"Good idea~," Dante said and helped Delgado out as usually did and got Delgado in bed before laying next to him. "What's on your mind, Del?~," Dante said as he pulled Delgado close so they could cuddle.

Delgado cuddled Dante back and said: "I'm just trying to think of a way to explain what's going on to the kids, I know they never really understood why they suddenly were living with us and why they wouldn't see Joan again and what D2 said did get everyone to relax which I am thankful for but I know it's only made the kids even more confused and will only be a matter of time before they ask about it".

"Yeah, that's gonna be a problem to explain as the nature of it alone is more than they should be hearing at their age. I do agree with D2 though, he's the one who got hurt and it's his decision to forgive and help her or not," Dante admitted with a sigh as he stroked Delgado's fur.

"Yeah if he says he's willing to forgive her then that should be enough for everyone else, let's try and think of a way to explain this to the kids in a way they'll understand without going into too much detail in the morning, right now I'm too tired to think," Delgado said with a yawn.

"Sounds fair, we should be prepared for it at the very least," Dante said and hugged Delgado, closing his eyes as he just cuddled Delgado.

Delgado closed his eyes as well and not too much longer was fast asleep.

Dante wasn't far behind him and had a feeling the kids would've fallen asleep by now as well, not that he was too worried about them getting into trouble.


	30. A Few Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dee Dee goes to visit D2 and shares her thoughts on what's happening but it isn't long before Delilah calls with an update on Da Vinci.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've been slowing down on rping, we enjoy it but we nearly burned ourselves out and so we'll be slowing down a little.

Dee Dee had some free time and had decided to go to talk with D2, they had really managed to get along once he'd gotten better. Dee Dee had heard about Joan and she knew the family had hard feelings which she understood, but she had her own opinion on the matter as she rang the doorbell and waited for an answer.

Not long after Dee Dee rang the doorbell D2 opened the door "oh hey Dee Dee, your timing couldn't have been better, come on inside".

"I'm glad, Dallas sends her regards, she's just been busy," Dee Dee said with a smile as she went in, curious what he meant by that.

D2 nodded at that as he closed the door behind her and then made their way to the living room "Ah alright, anyway I wasn't sure what I was going to do today before you showed up, I usually plan to go visit one of our siblings when I'm home alone but Dawkins got called into work when he was supposed to have the day off today, I couldn't understand the technobabble Dawkins was saying when he tried to explain why he had to leave but it sounded urgent".

"Oh, alright glad this worked out. So, I did kind of come with you to talk about the elephant in the room. But, we can have a nice chat as well," Dee Dee said as they sat down with a smile and tried to show she wasn't going to try to talk him out of it.

D2 nodded at that as he sat down as well before he said "so I'm guessing you're taking it a bit better than most of the family judging from your tone".

"Listen, because of her I almost never got to see how sweet of a brother you could be. And everyone's worried that she'd do something like that again, more or less. However, I think you're doing the right thing, and if you've managed to forgive her enough that you're willing to help her... Then, everyone should be proud that you managed to get this far. I remember just being glad you wouldn't glare at me when you thought I wouldn't notice, I will admit that I was scared of you until you got help," Dee Dee explained, just wanting to give her two cents.

"Thanks sis, it means a lot, and I'm sorry I scared you back then even if that fear was justified," D2 said with a laugh trying to play that last part off as a joke but he knew they were both very aware of how he was back then "anyway I still don't know what made me want to see Joan but I do know why I wanted to help her in the end".

"If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't be here. As for that, what did make you want to help her?" Dee Dee asked as she pulled him into a hug and stroked his fur.

D2 nodded at that and hugged her back before he said "to put it simply it was her eyes, even before that night where she did that to me I could see in her eyes a sort of maliciousness that sent chills down my back, but it was never directed at me, so that's why I trusted her, that is until... well you know... the look in her eyes as she told me everything has given me nightmares that honestly still haven't fully gone away, but when I went to visit her again I saw none of that, in fact, she just seemed kind of... broken..."

"I understand, I'd say it took courage to go confront her again. Perhaps, deep down you wanted to see her suffering in a sense. But, once you saw how broken she was, and from the sound of it back then she was very proud and arrogant, maybe you felt a bit of pity for her. I won't say she doesn't deserve what she got but I will say that even if it wasn't the best reason to go see her, you did the right thing in the end," Dee Dee told him, just explaining what she thought about it.

D2 nodded at that and just held Dee Dee tightly for a second before he said "Thanks Dee Dee it really means a lot, I guess that must have been the reason I went to see her, I can't think of any other reason I would have since everything was taken care of before I even knew what was happening, but it feels nice that I told someone this".

"Of course, I will also point out that you shouldn't get upset that the others aren't too happy at this. After all, we remember how messed up you were and she also tricked Dante. So, you can forgive everyone for being suspicious of her. But, I believe dogs can change... I've seen it happen," Dee Dee said and felt there was no need to elaborate.

D2 just laughed a bit and said "believe me I understand where they're coming from completely don't worry about that, I'm just surprised Dante is even going along with this at all, and yeah you've got a fine example of dogs being able to change right in front of you".

"Of course, so let's move to a much more fun subject. You and Dawkins settled on a date yet?" Dee Dee asked with a smirk and ruffled the fur on his head.

"Yeah we have actually, we're going to have the wedding in June, right on the beach I proposed to him on, in fact," D2 said laughing a bit at that.

"Oooh~ That sounds really romantic~ Just make sure you keep a close eye on the weather, you know how crazy it can be here," Dee Dee said with a giggle as she wagged her tail, happy to see her brothers finally getting married.

"Of course, the last thing we want is to get rained on while we're having our wedding, thankfully the weatherman has been a lot more accurate in recent years," D2 said laughing a bit at that.

"I'll make sure Dallas knows and to write it down, hopefully we'll make it. I know what you mean, you two are almost the only ones who haven't got married yet," Dee Dee said with a giggle, teasing him a bit but understanding that the two wanted to make sure it was something they both wanted.

"Hehe yeah out of everyone who has moved out we've taken the longest to get married, oh well, I would say it won't change much but Dawkins has been really warming up to the idea of adopting some kids some time afterwards so we'll see how it goes," D2 said giggling as well.

"Oh, he has? How much egging on did that take?" Dee Dee asked with a tease, it had been no secret to the family that Dawkins seemed to not really want kids at least until now.

"Hehe~ well it took quite a bit is all I'll say, though seeing Dante's kids did seem to help," D2 said giggling to himself.

"Yeah, Dallas and I haven't gotten a good opportunity to talk about it but I guess we'll get around to it. Seems like everyone has kids on the mind recently, and seems Da Vinci's about ready to pop. Poor girl, she'll have her paws full that's for sure," Dee Dee said with a giggle and nuzzled D2 back.

"Yeah we have, I guess we're all just at that point in our lives right now, and yeah it has to be any day now for Da Vinci, it'll be rough that's for sure but I know DJ and she can pull through it," D2 said with a smile on his face.

"I'm sure they'll be great, and once you two are officially married it'll be a lot easier for you to adopt trust me," Dee Dee said as she got up, having enjoyed this talk.

D2 just nodded as he giggled at that and before he had the chance to say anything he heard Dee Dee's phone start to ring.

"Huh, it's mom," Dee Dee said and answered the phone, having not expected a call from Delilah today and wasted no time answering. "Hey, mom what's up?" Dee Dee said cheerfully, curious as to what was going on.

"Hey sweetheart," Delilah said sounding extremely tired "I'm just calling to let everyone know that Da Vinci just had her puppies, they are fine and healthy by the looks of things, and Da Vinci herself is taking a nap right now, let's just say these pups didn't make this easy and leave it at that".

"Oh really?! That's great! I can't wait to see them, but yeah I can imagine she's just happy they're out at this point. I'm with D2 right now, Dawkins and Dallas are currently working," Dee Dee told her and was wagging her tail.

"Ah okay, I'll just let you tell them in that case," Delilah said with a yawn "sorry, I've been up since three in the morning dealing with this, I'd love to talk for a bit Dee Dee but I've got more calls to make before I can take a nap myself".

"I don't blame those two for not wanting any more litters, seems like the little guys gave Da Vinci a hard time from start to finish," Dee Dee said with a giggle as she got ready to hang up.

"Hehe they sure did, I'll see you soon Dee Dee," Delilah said as she got ready to hang up as well.

"Bye, mom. Love you," Dee Dee said before hanging up to turn to D2 and let him hear the news which she figured he'd already gathered what was happening.

"I take it Da Vinci had her puppies?" D2 said with a laugh, he only heard Dee Dee's side of the conversation but that was more than enough to put two and two together.

"Yeah, let's just say even mom sounded burnt out. Let's give it a couple of days before seeing them," Dee Dee said with a giggle, knowing it wasn't hard to figure out from what she said.

"Alright sounds good to me, still though I'm excited to see them," D2 said giggling a bit to himself "do you think they'll want help naming all of them?"

"No harm asking, though right now they all need some rest. Apparently, they'd been up since three in the morning dealing with it and I'm not sure how long her labor lasted but fifteen is a lot either way," Dee Dee said with a sigh as she thought about it.

"Right, they've earned a rest after that," D2 said thinking that over for a minute.

"Alright, D2. I'm back, and oh kibbles was that exhausting," Dawkins said with a sigh as he entered the house and closed the door. "Hey, Dee Dee. What's up?" Dawkins said as he went to lay down on the sofa.

"Oh, hey Dawkins, D2 and I were just chatting, and also Da Vinci had her pups," Dee Dee said with a grin and noticed how exhausted Dawkins.

"Oh, that's nice... Wait, what?" Dawkins said as he perked up a little from that, it was obvious he was on the verge of passing out and even his surprised tone sounded like he was out of breath.

"Hehe yeah, mom just called Dee Dee to let her know while we were hanging out, from what I hear it was a bit rough but Da Vinci is fine and so are the kids," D2 said and pulled Dawkins into him as he sat down with them.

"That's good... As long as everyone is okay... I know everyone was worried, but even D2 could tell how unnerved I was once I saw her condition. I won't lie, I got pretty worried but as long as they're all okay...." Dawkins said as he nuzzled D2 and leaned into him.

"Alright, boys. I'll go see if Dallas is back home, take care of Dawkins D2, looks like he's had a pretty rough day himself," Dee Dee said and Dawkins nodded, she had to admit she understood Dawkins concern as she went to leave and was glad everything turned out fine herself.

"I will Dee Dee, see you later," D2 said, nuzzling Dawkins back and waving her off.

Dawkins closed his eyes and cuddled D2 as Dee Dee left, not really in the mood to talk about his day. But, he was glad it was over and had the rest of the day with D2 at least.

D2 could always tell when Dawkins just needed a moment of silence and just closed his eyes as well and slowly fell asleep cuddled up with Dawkins.

Dawkins wasn't far behind him and smiled, everyday getting closer to the big day just made him anticipate it more.


	31. Baby Blues

Dora had just finished cleaning up the house and had even finished getting the spare room ready, D3 and her still had things to decide on. Dora had wanted to adopt a boy and it seemed D3 really wanted a girl, but while D3 had to work Dora thought of what to do now. She wondered if she should go ahead and see Da Vinci but just sat on the sofa for now.

Just then D2 came up to the front door of her house and rang the doorbell and waited to be let in.

Dora got up and opened the door, surprised at D2's arrival but it wasn't completely unexpected as D2 had mentioned he was going to visit soon. "Oh, hey bro come on in," Dora said and closed the door behind him.

"Hey sis, I just wanted to hang out, hope you don't mind," D2 said as he came in and they started walking to the living room.

"That's fine, I just finished straightening things up and even ended up getting our spare room ready for any future pups," Dora said with a smile as they sat down.

"Oh that's nice, you two work out the details yet?" D2 asked genuinely curious about what they decided on if anything.

"I want a boy, and he wants a girl. Hehe, we haven't quite decided but I'll be happy either way. I hate wasting Dawkins's hard work, but I just didn't want to bring a kid into the world with massive problems that I knew we'd risk just because I wanted to be a mother," Dora said as she explained her thoughts on the matter.

D2 nodded at that before he said "yeah I can understand that, but don't tell Dawkins I told you this but he was actually hoping you wouldn't use what he gave you, you know how he is, he's always thinking about things logically and he wasn't thrilled with the idea of how your kids might have turned out, he bit his tongue so to say and agreed to help you because you're family and all."

"That actually makes sense, I guess it's a blessing in disguise that I can't have pups for a few reasons. Though, still a bit of a sore spot but I can at least accept it," Dora said with a smile and hugged D2.

D2 nodded at that as he smiled and hugged her back for a bit not sure what else to say.

"I was thinking of seeing Da Vinci as it's been a few days and I think I'm ready to see them. Also, I'm sorry... I know it isn't my place to have a grudge against Joan... Still, she's hurt two of my brothers even if I didn't know you existed back then... And she..." Dora stopped herself and thought about what she almost said.

"It's okay Dora, I understand where you're coming from," D2 said as he gave her a nuzzle "come on, let's go see Da Vinci's kids alright?"

"Yeah, let's go and see them. I'm sure they've been getting a lot of visitors," Dora said and nuzzled him back before getting up.

D2 just giggled at that before he got up as well and they made their way back to the front door.

Dora went out first with D2 behind her, making her way to her parent's house with a smile as she really was ready to see the pups.

It didn't take them long to get there as Dora and D3 had made sure to get a place close by their parents' place when they moved out and soon enough they were there.

Dora rang the doorbell with a smile on her face, as she waited for an answer. The door opened to reveal an exhausted-looking DJ with a wrapped wrist though he had a smile on his face.

"Hey, DJ. You're looking a bit rough," Dora said as DJ let her and D2 inside and closed the door behind them.

"Yeah, trust me we all looked a lot worse a few days ago," DJ said with a chuckle as he led the two towards the pups.

D2 giggled a bit at that and said "I can imagine, pretty grateful I'm gay right now".

"And being infertile seems more and more like a blessing in disguise by the day," Dora said with a giggle a bit as well.

"Yeah, just do be careful around Da Vinci for numerous reasons. She was in labor for around 10 hours and gave birth to 15 pups so it goes without saying she isn't really feeling like being up and about right now," DJ said and noticed Dora wince when he said that.

"Yeah completely understandable, we'll be as careful as can be bro," D2 said as they made it to Da Vinci's temporary room.

DJ led them to the room as Da Vinci and the pups lay on the bed, Da Vinci to do much more than sleep for now.

Dora walked in behind DJ and was quiet for now as she wasn't sure if Da Vinci was awake.

D2 followed Dora's example as they went over to where Da Vinci was and after a second she opened her eyes and said "hey guys, I take it you're here to see the pups?"

"Yeah, don't worry we'll be careful. We just couldn't wait to get to see them, I would ask how you're feeling but I think I can guess the answer," Dora said as she walked over and gently nuzzled Da Vinci.

DJ went over and just watched the pups eat, they had been very cautious about who they let in since the pups weren't even a week old.

Da Vinci giggled a bit at that and nuzzled Dora back before she said "hehe yeah it's no secret how much trouble these little guys gave me, mom said I should stay in bed for at least a month or two before I even try to walking again" meanwhile, D2 sat down next to DJ to watch the kids eat a bit and just smiled as their curiosity.

DJ watched as one of the pups was trying to explore curiously its eyes still closed while it slowly scooted around and sniffed around at its surroundings.

"I'm starting to feel like I'm not missing out on too much," Dora said with a giggle, half-joking as she just watched the pups.

"I can't say I blame you, but I feel like dad was right, now that it's all over and I'm seeing these guys outside of me for the first time I feel like it was all worth it... I'm never doing this again but still," Da Vinci said laughing to herself.

"I can understand that, don't worry in a few years you'll get them back for it," Dora said with a laugh, feeling happy for Da Vinci and just smiled as the pups began exploring a bit and one began sniffing at D2's paw like it was trying to figure out what this new scent was.

D2 giggled a bit at that and the little newly born pup smell his paw wanting the little guy to get familiar with him as soon as he could.

"Oh yeah, as soon as they're old enough to be embarrassed I am going to relish it whenever we go out in public," Da Vinci said laughing a bit.

"You can pet them and hold them, but be very careful with them," DJ told D2, in a kind manner but with a slight warning tone.

"I can imagine, D3 and I will be adopting soon. Though we haven't quite worked out the details yet," Dora shared as she smiled and noted that DJ was a bit defensive, but she could understand.

D2 nodded at that and as carefully as he could be picked the one that was smelling his paw up and held him in his arms and started petting him.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out Dora, do you two at least know how many kids you want yet?" Da Vinci said with a smile on her face.

"We aren't sure exactly, I'm thinking of one or two at least for now. We'll definitely have to discuss, good news is by adopting we have all the say in how many we get," Dora said with a giggle, watching D2 play with the pup.

"If I'm honest, 15 is more than we wanted but it's definitely not something you'll hear me complain about," DJ said with a smile, feeling good about it all. He was just happy that it was over and now he could just enjoy his pups.

"Yeah I'm not going to complain about it either, at least now that they're out of me, did a lot of that a few days ago is all I'll say," Da Vinci said giggling a bit.

D2 laughed at that as well as he kept playing with the pup in his arms and noticed that he gave D2 some licks and a nuzzle every now again seeming to be enjoying the attention D2 was giving him.

"I did smart off at one point, the glares I received could've melted ice," DJ said with a chuckle, recalling the events.

"I'm sure, was that about the time you ended up needing a cast?" Dora said with a giggle.

"Hehe no, as funny as that would have been the real reason is that at some point during the whole thing I ended up breaking DJ's paw I was holding on to it so strongly," Da Vinci said laughing a bit "again I'm really sorry about that love, I didn't even think I could squeeze that hard".

"That surprised me too, but it's alright. I wasn't the one having to push 15 pups out for 10 hours," DJ said and patted Da Vinci's head with his good paw.

"I'm sure everyone was glad when that was over," Dora said with a smile.

Da Vinci nodded at that with a smile before she turned to Dora and said "yeah no kidding, nobody in this house got any sleep that night".

"Da Vinci woke up screaming at around 3 and I ran to get mom as soon as I heard it," DJ said remembering being woken up by Da Vinci's blood-curdling screams.

"Yikes, sounds like one hell of a thing to wake up to," Dora said as she listened.

"Yeah, it was pretty rough, like I was told by pretty much all of our sisters and our mom that it wasn't going to be pleasant but I still wasn't prepared for that, I think everything that could have gone wrong outside of losing one of the pups or Dog forbid myself did happen," Da Vinci said just sounding relieved to have that behind her.

"Yeah, glad those two didn't happen at least," DJ said with a sigh of relief as Dora nodded and the pup D2 was holding started whining for food.

D2 put the pup down right where it could crawl over to Da Vinci to get some milk and said "well this was nice getting to see them but I'll let you guys rest now and head home".

"Alright D2 see you later," Da Vinci said with a yawn.

"Yeah, D3 should be on his way home and we'll talk. Also, D2 mentioned wanting to help name the pups," Dora said and teased D2 before he got too far.

"Well, if he wants to he can. We do plan on keeping the 'D-name' tradition though," DJ said with a chuckle.

D2 giggled a bit and said "Alright then I'll let you know if I get any ideas," and with that D2 got up getting ready to leave.

"Okay, see you later," Da Vinci said, waving him off.

DJ waved him off as well, and Dora followed D2 once she said her goodbyes. Deciding to head home and see if D3 got back.


	32. Field Test

Mark was once again on his way to Dawkins's place to do more testing with the translator. It still needed some work but progress to perfecting it has been going very well. Dawkins said it has already moved on from the alpha stage and now is in the beta which should have taken much longer to do than this. Regardless of all of this Mark had a rather unusual encounter before leaving for work and was still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing and was considering bringing it up with Dawkins since it indirectly relates to him.

Dawkins was at home reading a bit as D2 was taking a nap, having just finished up planning their wedding and now just had to wait for it. He was surprised himself at how fast his project seemed to be progressing, for now, he just waited for Mark to arrive.

After not too much longer Mark made it to Dawkins's place and rang the doorbell and stood there waiting to be let inside.

Dawkins got up and let Mark in with a smile and closed the door behind him. "You won't understand a word of this, but I do feel very surprised that we made it this far," Dawkins said as he went to the living room as the translator was there waiting to be turned on.

Mark just shrugged as he wasn't even going to pretend he had any idea what Dawkins just said as he followed Dawkins to the living room and took a seat.

Dawkins sat down and waited for Mark so he could turn the translator on, though recently he managed to get it to work on a Discord call which had pretty interesting results itself.

Mark picked the translator up and turned it on and put it back down before he said "hey Dawkins, so what is on the agenda for tests today?" though he asked that almost every time they worked together, today Dawkins could tell Mark's mind was somewhere else at the moment.

"First, what's on your mind? Something seems to be bugging you, any side effects? I should know if there's anything that could cause serious problems," Dawkins said with a concerned tone.

"Oh it's nothing like that, it's completely unrelated to anything we're doing here, it's just... I may have run into the dumbest human to ever live just before I left to come here" Mark said with a sigh as it fully hit him how badly he needed to vent to someone about this.

"Oh, I see... Well, it seemed to strike a nerve so let it out," Dawkins said with a smile as he just let Mark say whatever he needed to before they got started on the real tests.

"Yeah, you can say that, even before I met you and learned the truth about dogs being way smarter than humans give them credit for I've always loved you guys so this runs deep," Mark said just getting his thoughts in order "but I'm getting ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning, I live in one of the few apartments places that let you have pets with you there, and pretty much the only place that lets said pets wander around unsupervised".

"Alright, that makes sense," Dawkins said as he waited for Mark to continue, Dawkins wasn't sure where this was but from the sound of it, he knew this was a big deal.

"Alright, so everyone there knows each other at least a little bit, you kind of have to if you're going to let your pets walk around the place without watching them," Mark said trying his best to give context before he got to what happened "so today I was playing with my neighbors Pit Bull named Princess for about fifteen minutes in the morning like I always have trying not let my little discovery weird me out of it when this guy I didn't know passed by".

"Uh-huh, this next test will be fun, anyway continue," Dawkins said with a slight smirk before getting back to his serious gaze.

Mark just shrugged that off and continued the story by saying "anyways just as he was about to pass me I called over Princess and this guy turns to me and says something along the lines of 'why would you name a Pit Bull something stupid like that' which caught me off guard, to say the least so I said 'first of all she's my neighbor's dog secondly what's wrong with Princess? it's a nice name' and I'm going to give you a second to brace yourself because holy cow this next part..."

"Alright, this sounds like a ride downhill that couldn't be stopped if you tried," Dawkins said while he listened, curious to hear more.

"Yeah, no kidding, and I had no way of knowing what I was in for," Mark said as he pinched the bridge of his nose before he got back to the story "so believe it or not he looks me dead in the eyes and says 'but that's a girls name' and I, having no idea why that mattered at all said 'yeah? she's a girl' to which he laughed in my face, and I'm not talking about a quick 'haha' either this was like a good thirty-second laugh".

"Alright, this person seems like he needs a few tests himself..." Dawkins said more to himself, and just let Mark continue. Dawkins was a bit confused at how a dog's name would cause such a fuss.

Mark decided not to comment on that and just continued the story with "I kind of forgot how this happened it went by so fast but not too long after he stopped laughing he went on about how breeds weren't made or even bred in the first place, in this crazy person's mind when two dogs have puppy's their breeds are assigned based on things like their gender personality and physical attributes and then he gave me a long list of breeds that can only be male and ones that can only be female, Pit Bulls and other larger dogs being male and smaller dogs being female".

"I.... that... Is the dumbest thing I've ever heard... How does he remember to breathe in the morning?" Dawkins said to himself, more confused than anything.

"Trust me I was asking myself the same thing Dawkins," Mark said in disbelief of this whole thing, "I asked him what his explanation was for mixed breeds was like a labradoodle just throwing out the first one I could think of and he looked at me like my hair caught on fire".

"Okay, so what on earth was his explanation?" Dawkins asked as he couldn't wait to hear more at this point.

"He didn't have one, in fact, he thought I was making stuff up to mess with him like he's never even heard of the concept of mixed breeds in his life," Mark said absolutely baffled by this.

"Oh boy, D2 and I blow his mind... In a few ways... D2 doesn't show it but he's part lab, though he prefers not to talk about it," Dawkins said with a giggle knowing D2 didn't mind sharing that much, but that was about as he was willing to go.

"Ah alright, I won't pry then," Mark said with a shrug knowing when it's best to let someone come to them about something "anyways it was at that point I knew I needed to get out of there as fast as I could, I didn't even say anything else to him, I just walked away with Princess and made sure she got back to her apartment and hightailed my way here".

"Alright, now that that's out of the way let's get down to business," Dawkins said as he put the translator on his collar and handed Mark a leash. "How do you feel about a walk?" Dawkins asked with a tail wag, he was enjoying having a human around even if he could tell Mark was still getting used to the whole talking dog thing.

"Well, with or without the translator it seems kind of weird to me now that I'm aware of how smart you guys are honestly but I'll go if you're sure," Mark said as they got ready to go.

"I'm sure, don't worry though this might cause quite a few freakouts. I know it feels weird but so far we've been doing things in a controlled environment, we haven't run a field test and so this will be important. For the most part, we can act casual, you're walking your dog and helping an inventor test out a device," Dawkins explained and had taken one of Mark's suggestions that he could use a cellphone battery to extend the battery life. Which D2 objected to at first but eventually they worked it out.

"Alright yeah you're right, I just got to keep my cool which you know isn't a problem for me," Mark said as they got to the front door where he hesitantly clipped the leash onto Dawkins collar and opened the door to walk outside.

"I know, which is part of why I haven't fired you, whenever you're ready," Dawkins said, joking a little with the firing part but still was trying to keep Mark from being too put off about this.

Mark kind of figured Dawkins was joking there and took in a deep breath before walking out the front door and started to make his way with Dawkins down the street.

Dawkins was quiet for now, wanting to keep a bit of illusion going. He and Mark walked a little way, waiting for the right time to really test out the device. Dawkins was going to see where most of the humans were while he knew Mark was just trying to act casual.

Mark kept walking and soon enough they were coming up to a café. Mark knew it to be a bit busy this time of day and they didn't mind you having a dog with you as long as you sat outside.

Dawkins let Mark lead, for now, knowing right now all he had to do was look like someone's cute dog. He was wagging his tail as he couldn't wait to see the reactions they would get.

Mark got a cup of coffee and a sandwich since in his rush to get away from the crazy person at his apartment complex he forgot to eat breakfast and took a seat outside and as he got to it he would every once in a while look around to see if Dawkins had caught anyone's eye.

Dawkins was feeling a bit thirsty and realized he forgot to bring any water with him. "Damn, I forgot my water," Dawkins muttered to himself as he waited to see if he could find someone whose face wasn't buried in their phone.

After a few minutes, Mark noticed a woman not only off her phone but was occasionally looking over at Dawkins. When she looked away for a second Mark leaned down to whisper to Dawkins pointing at the woman and said "over there, she might be a good place to start".

"She looks kinda cute don't you think?" Dawkins said as low as possible so Mark was the only one that heard before making his way towards her.

Mark just rolled his eyes and chuckled a bit as he finished up the last of his breakfast as Dawkins walked over to her.

Dawkins walked over to the woman and tried to just act like a normal dog sniffing around for food or whatever as he approached, thinking of how to do this without freaking her out too badly.

The woman looked over at him and said: "Oh my goodness he's adorable, what's his name? and can I pet him?"

"His name is Dawkins, and sure go ahead, he loves that," Mark said laughing a bit at that.

"Yep, sure do," Dawkins let out as she began petting him, not sure she'd believe it at first though he felt it was a good opportunity to speak.

It took a second to hit her what just happened but when it did she pulled her hand away and nearly jumped out of her seat as she said "Did that dog just talk!" which got more than a few of the people nearby who had been on their phones until now attention.

"Yep!" Dawkins responded with a grin and wagging his tail, though was hoping the woman would get her wits about her again. Dawkins used a back paw to cue Mark to explain it for him, which would've done himself but felt he needed to keep the shock to a minimum.

"Long story short I'm testing out an invitation made by some scientist who assured me this would be safe for my dog," Mark said as calmly as he could. That was true for the most part aside from that last part as Mark wanted to keep the lies to a minimum but he knew it was probably going to get out of hand.

Dawkins sat down wagging his tail, it was a bit genuine though he was going to wait for everyone to get their bearings. "Still a work in progress though," Dawkins added and pretended to scratch himself behind his ear, wanting to keep the act up a bit even if it wasn't completely necessary.

"Oh wow, so how does it all work if you don't mind me asking," The woman said and pulled out her phone and set it to start recording Dawkins.

"I asked but he used a lot of big words that honestly went way over my head but you can see the end results for yourself," Mark said sort of dodging the question as Dawkins has explained the whole thing to him in a way he understood but he felt that was going to give too much away. Mark could hear the other people there talking amongst themselves at this point though he couldn't pick out anything particular.

"Yeah, it essentially uses pre-existing communication reverse engineered to translate dog barks," Dawkins explained and was feeling himself start geeking out from excitement which was starting to make him break character.

The woman was about to say something else in response to that but Mark pipped up with "anyways I'd love to stay and chat but I've got other places I need to hit up with this if I want to get paid" and with that, he picked Dawkins up and started to make his leave with him feeling really glad he had already paid for his breakfast.

"Huh? What?" Dawkins responded in confusion as Mark made a quick getaway, he was enjoying himself and was just surprised at Mark's sudden urgency.

"Dawkins she was a good ten seconds away from putting together what was actually happening after you said that trust me I could tell, not to mention I saw a few of the people sitting nearby getting up and took a couple of steps out of the way," Mark said whispering to Dawkins and putting him down after they were far enough away "I just felt it was best to get out of there while we still could, call it a gut feeling".

"Ugh, alright well I'll take your word for it and I guess I was starting to get a bit too excited and started giving myself away," Dawkins said with a sigh and groan as he sat on the ground. He felt bad that he almost screwed up his own experiment and might have almost caused a really bad situation due to his geeking out.

"It's alright Dawkins, it happens to the best of us, should we try somewhere else or do you think I should get you home for now?" Mark said, trying to cheer Dawkins up a bit and trying to see what they should do next.

"Let's go home, we may have to go around the long way so we won't have to pass the café," Dawkins said with a sigh, though did appreciate Mark trying to cheer him up.

"Alright then sounds good to me," Mark said and with that, they were on their way back to Dawkins place making sure not to pass by the café again.

Dawkins opened the door and was trying to feel a bit better, though felt thirsty and tired and just glad to be home pretty sure D2 would be up.

Mark unclipped the leash off of Dawkins and said "need anything else? I noticed you seemed a bit thirsty, I can get you some water real quick before I go".

D2 walked out of their room and saw that they were back "hey love, how did it go?" he asked, kissing Dawkins on his cheek having known what he was planning on doing today.

"Water please, and well it was... Well... Let me get some water first..." Dawkins said and kissed D2 back, obviously upset with something.

Mark nodded at that and went to go get Dawkins some water.

D2 gave Dawkins a nuzzle and just gave him a moment.

"Let's just say I geeked out and nearly blew our cover, though everything before seemed to go well enough," Dawkins said and nuzzled him back as he waited for Mark, starting to feel a little better even if he couldn't completely call this test a success.

Mark came back and sat a bowl of water in front of Dawkins and said "I think I'll be on my way, we can try this again some other time, payment will be through PayPal like always right?"

"It's alright Dawkins, we all make mistakes and hey I'm sure you learned a lot from this either way," D2 said as Dawkins drank his water.

"Of course, thanks again and I'll contact you when I need you again," Dawkins said with a smile as he got to drinking as fast as possible, as he'd never had a drink in his life "Yes, bring me my notepad love," Dawkins said and turned the translator off before getting back to drinking.

Mark waved goodbye as he walked out the front door and made his way back home.

D2 nodded and went to go get it and was back just as Dawkins got done drinking his water.

Dawkins slid the bowl out of the way and set the translator to the side as he got to writing. "Test log: Mark and I ran a field test today finally, went to a café and waited to find a possible subject to talk with. She seemed shocked at first but interested, though it seems I ended up dropping my guard and said too much too early. Mark's quick thinking proved valuable, more tests required. Overall conclusion: Humans will react with reasonable shock and interest and as long as you act like a stereotypical dog they don't seem too bothered," Dawkins finished as he sighed and got up to put everything away.

"So what do you want to do now, love? I think you could use some time to unwind after that, maybe we could watch a movie together?" D2 said just throwing out ideas.

"Alright, pick something out, and let's do it. Might end up wanting some relief later~" Dawkins said with a smirk as he eyed up D2, starting to feel better as he mentally reminded himself that he was supposed to test out reactions, and screwing up did mean he at least got to see how humans may react when they found out the truth.

D2 giggled a bit at that and went to go look for a movie to watch together and sat down on the couch.

Dawkins cuddled with D2 once he could and watched with him, just wanting to relax for now.


	33. Wanting Privacy

Tina had thought it over and made her way to Delgado's room, wanting to ask him a question. She loved her brother's but she was starting to want her own room for a change, Dante was out at the moment but she felt bringing it up to her other dad wouldn't be a problem.

Delgado was just laying down for a bit after getting back from his daily jog.

Tina entered and crawled up next to him cuddling with him, deciding to enjoy a moment with her papa before asking anything.

Delgado giggled a bit and cuddled her back without a word and just enjoyed the moment.

"Daddy, I have a question," Tina said and gave him a nuzzle, enjoying just laying there but did want to go ahead with this.

Delgado's heart skipped a beat at that, it was innocent enough for her to ask him something but there were several potential questions that he was dreading that he knew he would have to answer sooner or later "yes sweetie? what is it?" he said as calmly as he could.

"I was just wondering if I could get my own room, I love my brothers but I'm starting to want more privacy I guess," Tina said with her eyes closed and smiling as she felt Delgado's warmth.

Delgado let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and said "of course Tina, honestly me and your dad have been talking about maybe giving you your own room but we weren't sure if you'd want to be separated from your brothers".

"Oh? Huh, that settles that then and I think the three of us have been wanting more privacy lately though me a bit more so," Tina explained as they laid there, unaware at her dad's relief that she didn't ask a more serious question.

"Alright then, we'll wait for Dante to get home and we'll clear out a couple of the spare rooms we have, a lot of junk from whoever lived here last got left behind, we just never bothered getting rid of it all since we never needed those rooms," Delgado said giving Tina a nuzzle and was really glad she didn't pick up on how he was feeling at the moment.

"Alright, daddy. Love you," Tina said as she wagged her tail and just lay next to Delgado for now, Dante had said he wouldn't be long and Tina's brothers were determined to sleep the day away.

"Love you too Tina," Delgado said with a laugh and closed his eyes for a bit as they waited for Dante to get back.

Tina just cuddled with Delgado for the time being, after a few minutes her ear perked up at hearing the front door open, she hopped off the bed to go help her dad with the groceries and it seems her brothers decided to as well. Dante just laughed as he and the kids got the groceries in and wasted no time putting them away.

Delgado was right behind Tina and kissed Dante before he got to helping them put everything up.

It didn't take too long with everyone's help and soon enough, the five of them went to the living room and took a seat to get ready for today.

"Before we get started love, Tina says she wants her own room," Delgado said wanting to get that out of the way as soon as they could.

"Ah alright, that settles that then. The two of us had been thinking it was time you three each had your own rooms anyway," Dante said with a smile, as he and Delgado had been really thinking about how the three would be wanting to be more independent sooner or later. There was plenty the two knew was going to happen eventually and they did their best to be prepared.

"Yeah, come on, let's get rid of all the junk in some of these rooms," Delgado said giggling a bit as they went.

"Yeah, come on kids. Most of it isn't any good anyway," Dante said and led the kids to the first room.

Delgado led the way and once they got to him and Dante got to work right away getting rid of everything.

"I'd like this room, but could we paint the walls differently? I don't really like the color," Terrence said as he looked around once the room was cleared up.

"Alright, Terrence, we can fix it eventually. Though Da Vinci won't be painting for a while," Dante told him as he let Terrence look around and went to another room with Tina to help clean it out.

"We'll get that sorted out as soon as we can. Terrence don't worry," Delgado said as he left to follow Dante and Tina.

"I think I'll be happy with the room we've been in," Tony said as he thought it over, Dante just nodded at that and began cleaning as Tony ran off to play with Terrence.

"Oh this looks cute," Tina said as she looked around and helped Dante and Delgado clean.

Delgado smiled as they got to cleaning up the room, he was glad that the kids weren't fighting at all over who got which room, in fact now that he thought about he couldn't think of a single time these kids fought with each other which Delgado was thankful for but couldn't help but find a little odd.

"Hey, Del. I talked with that therapist I used to see and told him about the situation. He said he wanted to talk with the kids and he'd let us know if this was something to be concerned about," Dante whispered to Delgado, pretty much reading his mind and having talked about calling that therapist for a while now. Tina smiled as she looked over the room like she'd never thought she'd have this much space to herself.

"Good" was all Delgado said back as they finished cleaning the room, the sooner their kids saw this therapist the sooner he would be able to rest easier.

"Alright, the date's set as well so for now let's just do what we can while we wait," Dante said, his concern showing just as much as Delgado's as they let Tina look around.

Delgado nodded at that as they watched Tina look around and as far as he could tell she was loving it.

"Alright, now you three need to help move your things into your new rooms," Dante said with a warm smile as they went back to the kids room and let the kids separate their stuff.

Delgado smiled as they went back to the room all three had been staying and they got to putting all their things in their new rooms.

After a bit, Dante sat in the living room and took a deep breath. Not really sure what else to do as the kids got used to the new living arrangements. He promised to take the kids to see the pups as soon as they could but right now it was better to keep the kids away as the kids hadn't been updated on their shots yet which Delilah had convinced them to let her take care of all that as soon as she could.

Just then they heard Dante's phone ringing with the caller ID showing it was Delilah calling "huh, what do you think mom wants love?" Delgado asked, wondering what this was about.

"Hey, mom," Dante said with a quick answer and was just gonna see what she was wanting.

"Hey Dante, how are you and the kids doing lately?" Delilah said making small talk not wanting to just jump into why she was calling just yet.

"Overall, pretty great. Delgado and I have some concerns about some things regarding the pup's behavior but I already called up my old therapist to check it out so he'll be able to help with that. How's Da Vinci and DJ?" Dante said wanting to make sure everyone was doing okay.

"That's good at least, keep me updated on that, I'll be over in a few days so I can make sure they get up to date on their shots," Delilah said just sounding concerned "as for Da Vinci and DJ they're doing fine if be it more then a little sleep deprived but that's to be expected even with a small litter".

"Yeah, I can imagine... Alright, I'll let the kids know you'll be here in a couple of days. Thanks again," Dante said with a chuckle, knowing he was never going to talk her out of it if he tried. But, the kids really did love seeing Delilah plus it made more sense for her to do it if he were honest.

"You're welcome Dante, I do love seeing them as I do with all my grandchildren," Delilah said with a laugh before she let out a sigh "now for the real reason for why I called, Dante, are you aware of a video that popped up on the internet the other day of Dawkins?"

"Oh that... Delgado and I talked with D2 and it seems he slipped up when he was testing a new invention..." Dante said and wasn't sure exactly why Delilah was bringing this up.

"Well, that explains that a lot, the video by the looks of things has spread like wildfire to every inch of the internet, and has countless human debating if it's fake or not right now," Delilah said starting to sound more and more concerned.

"How concerned should we be? Should we try and talk him out of continuing?" Dante asked, noting how concerned she was and wanted to know her thoughts on it.

"Honestly? I'm not sure, no one seems openly hostile to the idea of sentient dogs, at worst they're just convinced that there is no way this could be real" Delilah said with a sigh "it could just be that I'm getting old and I'm scared of the changes this will bring..."

"Yeah, that makes sense this will definitely cause a massive change to the dynamic we have with humans," Dante said as he thought it over, feeling more neutral to the idea than anything.

"No kidding, I've promised myself that I wasn't going to let my fears from keeping Dawkins getting into the history books when he was old enough to start tinkering with stuff but if I had seen this coming I'm not sure I would have done that," Delilah said laughing only half-joking there "still I just needed to talk to someone to calm my nerves about this and you happened to be the first one that I called that was available".

"Alright, mom, and yeah if there's one thing Dawkins has always loved it is tinkering and pushing out of whatever box he's in," Dante said with a chuckle, having always admired Dawkins and his intelligence even at his worst.

Delilah giggled a bit at that and said "Well I'm going to have to let you go, Dante, I hear Da Vinci's pups starting to cry in the other room, see you soon, love you".

"Alright, love you too," Dante said and hung up the phone, having enjoyed this chat a bit.

"So how was that talk with mom, love? I put together most of it from your end but still" Delgado said giggling a bit and cuddled Dante.

"It went well, just concerned about Dawkins and also mentioned she'll be here in a couple of days to take care of the pups," Dante shared as he nuzzled Delgado.

"Ah okay then, I can understand that and the kids will love to see her even if she will be giving them shots," Delgado said giggling a bit as he nuzzled Dante back.

"Well, she has plenty of experience keeping pups calm is all I'll say to that," Dante said with a chuckle as they cuddled and just enjoyed each other's company.

Delgado nodded and closed his eyes and just enjoyed the moment with Dante.

Soon enough Dante fell asleep, smiling as he and Delgado just relaxed on the couch for now.

Delgado wasn't far behind him and was fast asleep and was happy with how this day had gone.


	34. Different Tastes

Dante was waiting for Dawkins to show up with Mark, he'd talked with Dawkins about Terrence wanting his room painted and Dawkins suggested letting Mark do it. Even if it was more so Dawkins could test out the device, Dante felt it was a nice gesture and it meant he didn't have to wait for Da Vinci to fully recover which he was sure Terrence would be glad to see it get done this soon.

Mark was walking with Dawkins to Dante's place having already been told who Dante was, what he would be doing there, and how it was relevant to testing out the device "So Dawkins I thought I'd just ask, what are you going to name this intention? so far we've just been calling it the translator which isn't wrong I guess but I'm not sure that should be its name if that makes any sense" Mark said as they walked just making small talk well no one was nearby.

"That's a good question, I'm surprised this got as far as it did honestly and my mistake really started a firestorm which means this will be quite interesting to see. I'm not sure what a good name for it would be, Barkslator?" Dawkins suggested more just thinking it over, knocking on the door once they got there. Dante opened the door and looked up at Mark, and then to Dawkins. "This Mark? Good to meet you," Dante said, not really knowing the translator was on as he spoke.

Mark wasn't sure about that name Dawkins threw out but decided to just get back to that later and said "Hello, you must be Dante, Dawkins told me a bit about you before we left, it's nice to meet you too".

"Yeah, let's start with Terrence. The other two wanted their rooms painted too, so we already have the paint and everything ready to go," Dante said and began leading Mark to Terrence's room.

"I'm sure if I recall you said he wanted the room to be light blue with pink swirls or something," Dawkins said as he walked with them and remembered how Dante talked about Terrence, they both giggled about it but both knew it wasn't going to be anytime soon before their suspicions were confirmed.

Mark just smiled at that, not having to think too hard to guess what they were thinking as they walked and said "well I'm pretty sure I can handle that much".

Dante entered the room, noticing Terrence with a paw on his chin. "The colors shouldn't clash, but do I prefer clouds or swirls? Though I'll take anything over the putrid green that this was painted in, oh hey dad and Uncle Dawkins. Who's this?" Terrence said as he turned to notice the three enter the room and walked over to greet them.

"This is Mark, he'll help you paint your room," Dante said with a chuckle as Dawkins winked with a slight giggle as well.

"Yeah I guess you could say I'm your uncle's assistant more or less," Mark said with a laugh not sure if Terrence had been told about the translator at all but thought that if he hadn't this could be a bit funny.

"Well, isn't he cu- Wait, he can understand us?" Terrence asked in surprise as he looked up at Mark, wagging his tail as he was excited to have the company.

"Yes, Terrence and why not try paw prints? I think that would be cute," Dante suggested with a giggle at how his son was acting.

"I have a dog translator I'm testing out, the one Tony was geeking out over. Oh, I forgot... Tony is Dante's other son, Mark and he's a bit nervous and shy so you'll have to be a bit delicate with him but I'm sure you'll be fine," Dawkins added, remembering he'd forgotten to mention how Tony was around strangers.

"Ah alright got it, well I'm going to go ahead and paint the walls blue, we'll add the pink however Terrence wants it when that drys," Mark said as he went to do just that.

"That sounds lovely actually, thanks dad, and alright Mark. I'm glad my uncle suggested this, my Aunt Da Vinci loves painting and I do want to learn from her but she just gave birth," Terrence and was wagging his tail as he excitedly talked with Mark, Dante and Dawkins just let Mark paint as Terrence talked.

Mark had just picked up the paint roller he was going to use when Terrence got done talking and out of everything he just said one thing stood out the most "wait, you have an Aunt named Da Vinci that's an artist?" Mark asked taking a second to let that sink in a bit before he got to painting the walls blue and continued with "at this point, I really shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore but that still through me for a loop".

"Yeah, that's her name and I remember the two of us talking about art last time I saw her," Terrence said with a shrug, confused as to why Mark thought that was interesting.

"What's confusing about that? It's just her name," Dawkins said as Dante looked very confused himself, all three dogs looking to Mark for an answer.

"Well it's just that she shares a name with a human historical figure, Leonardo Da Vinci, and he was... well he was a lot of things but he's mostly well known these days for being an artist," Mark said with a shrug as he kept going.

"That might explain why humans guessed her name that one time... It's an interesting coincidence," Dawkins said with a tap of his chin and watched Mark.

"Hey, I just want to make sure of something but you can just paint over it again..." Terrence said and dipped his paw into the pink paint and pressed it against the wall, grinning once he saw how well it seemed to work.

"Terrence, I get you want your room looking good but please don't make Mark's job harder..." Dante said with a sigh at his son, though he couldn't but chuckle at Terrence who definitely had an eye for design.

"It's no big deal, I'll have to remove it for right now to finish up painting the walls blue and everything but that won't be a problem," Mark said as he went to do just that.

"Alright, Terrence, wash your paw off for now and we'll help you add the paw prints once this dries," Dante said and Terrence nodded doing just that.

"What are Delgado and the other two up to?" Dawkins asked as he watched Mark paint and Terrence cleaned off his paws.

"Delgado went for a jog, Tina is in her room and getting it ready for Mark to paint, she wanted a dark purple color. Tony is doing the same, Terrence and Delgado helped him pick out a golden color," Dante explained, just wanting to let the kids decorate for now. The therapist had talked with the kids and while he and Delgado were shocked to hear a lot, it really didn't surprise them and just wanted the pups to enjoy themselves and know they could safely be themselves here.

Mark kept going and normally he wouldn't be paying attention at this point but part of why he was here was to test out the translator and said: "the translator seems to be fine so far by the way Dawkins, haven't noticed any issues at all yet".

"That's good, it works with three dogs in the room at least. We'll try to get them together to see how many dogs it takes for it to get overloaded," Dawkins said as he noted Mark was almost done now and figured he'd get Terrence to come with them once they get to Tina's room.

Mark nodded at that and soon enough he was done "alright we just need to let this dry and then we can add the paw prints Terrence wants, in the meantime, I can go ahead and paint one of the other kids' rooms".

"I guess Tina will be next, come with us, Terrence. We want you with us for now," Dante said and led the three to Tina's room, she had just woken up from a nap but did have everything ready to go so Dante didn't say anything when he noticed.

"Are you really sure you want purple, sis?" Terrence asked, swinging his paw with a look of disgust as he asked Tina.

"Our dads said to style our rooms the way we wanted, not how Terrence wanted plus we already bought the paint so yes," Tina said and rolled her eyes at her brother.

"But, why a dark color? I know what they said, but at least we got Tony to pick a decent shade of yellow and my room is fabulous already," Terrence said as he argued with his sister.

"Well, we don't all like dresses... Can't you act like a normal boy for once?" Tina said which Dante stepped in at that.

"Hey, hey, that's enough from both of you... We have guests, and now isn't the time to argue," Dante said as he broke the two up, a bit surprised at what Tina said but also noted this was the first actual argument his kids had.

Dawkins cringed a bit at the two arguing, but knew Dante could handle it and knew it happened sometimes but the last thing Tina said did bother him a little.

Mark looked like he wanted to say something but he knew it wasn't really his place to pipe in on his boss's family drama and just stood there a bit awkwardly while Dante broke up the fight.

"Just do your thing, Mark. Dante's got this," Dawkins said with that as Dante pulled the two pups out of the room.

Mark nodded at that and got to work painting the walls without another word.

"Tina, go to my room and I will talk with you in a minute. Terrence, go to the living room," Dante said, and while Terrence sort of started it, he knew he needed to talk with Tina after what she just said to her brother.

The pups didn't say a word and walked away with Dante watching them leave, it was obvious he wasn't happy with Tina after that last part. "Dawkins, I'm gonna wait for Delgado and let you and Mark do your thing. Tony's probably in his room, and I'm sure you two can keep him calm as Tony really seems to like you," Dante said and left the two alone, taking a deep breath and wishing he really didn't have to talk with his daughter about this.

Not long after that Delgado came home "Dante? I'm home" he said as he went to find Dante.

"Hey, Del... We need to have a talk with Tina..." Dante said once he got to the door, his face said just how mad he was with her right now. Looking over at Terrence, who'd curled up on the sofa not acknowledging Delgado or Dante.

"What happened?" Delgado asked, noticing how mad Dante was before he even said anything.

"Terrence and her got into an argument about the color she picked out. I was going to let it slide, but then Tina told Terrence to act like a normal boy for once in front of me, Dawkins, and Mark. She's in our room and waiting for me and you," Dante explained and it was obvious he was not happy with his daughter right now.

Delgado took in a deep breath and let it out trying to control his anger but it barely helped and he said: "come on Dante, let's go talk with her".

Dante nodded and walked to their room, opening the door to Tina laying on the bed and it was obvious she knew she was in trouble. "Okay, first of all, you and Terrence can't be fighting in front of guests..." Dante said once the door was closed.

"Well, he started..." Tina started, only to be hushed by an unamused Dante who was not wanting to hear excuses.

"You threw that excuse out the window as soon as you told Terrence to act normal... It isn't your place to talk about how your brother acts, and we will not tolerate disrespect from anyone in this house. Not only that, but that was in front of guests and you owe all of us an apology. Terrence, me, your papa, Mark, and Dawkins," Dante said as he tried to keep his tone controlled but it was obvious he was fuming right now.

"What your father said Tina, after you apologize to everyone you're grounded for at _least a week_ young lady," Delgado said as sternly as he could before he let out a sigh "look Tina your brother shouldn't have said anything about what color you decided to paint the walls but you need to understand what you said was way out of line and why".

"I know... I just woke up and he got me so frustrated... But, I know I shouldn't have said that..." Tina said, and Dante could see she was genuinely sorry for what she said.

"Tina, we still love you but we still can't let it slide and I can tell you feel bad about it. You're still grounded for a week, but first, you are going to apologize to us," Dante said, softening a bit but still wasn't just going to let Tina off for this.

"I'm sorry dad, papa... I shouldn't have said it, no matter the circumstances..." Tina said as she teared up a bit at that, Dante nodded at that and waited for Delgado's response.

"That's better, we'll give you a minute in here if you need it but you will apologize to everyone else before Dawkins and Mark leave," Delgado said, softening up as well and giving Tina a kiss on her forehead before pulling her into a hug. He didn't want to just let her off the hook either but since she seemed genuinely remorseful he didn't see anything wrong with trying to comfort her a bit.

"Yep, and you better thank Mark for being nice enough to paint your room for you after that as well," Dante pointed as he patted Tina's back while she got the crying out of her system.

Tina nodded as she cried and sniffled for a bit, feeling bad but with her dads comforting her it didn't seem to take too long for her to calm back down.

Once she had calmed down Delgado pulled away from her and said "Alright, Dante and I are going to check on Terrence real quick, we'll be back before Dawkins and Mark leave okay?"

Tina nodded at that and laid there for now as Dante kissed her forehead and walked to the door, not sure if they should get on to Terrence but also knew his son shouldn't have said anything in the first place.

Terrence was on the couch and sighed as he noticed Dawkins and Mark heading to Tony's room, he knew he should've left it alone but was also feeling a bit down about what his sister had said.

After not too long Delgado and Dante came into the living room "hey Terrence, how are you feeling?" Delgado asked as he walked up to him.

"I'm fine... But, I wasn't expecting to hear that from Tina..." Terrence said as Dante got beside him and pet him.

"We talked to her, admittedly it surprised me, she does owe you an apology. But, you know you shouldn't have said anything about how Tina wants her room," Dante said with a gentle tone, being able to tell how upset Terrence was.

"I know..." Terrence said with a sigh as Dante nuzzled him with a smile.

Delgado got on the other side of Terrence and started petting him before he said "alright Terrence, just promise us next time you'll remember other people have different things they like and there's nothing wrong with that, okay?"

"I promise, I know the three of us like different things and I guess we're just glad we can finally do what we like," Terrence said to which Dante pulled him into a hug.

"I know how you feel, trust me. Even your dad had issues growing up and ended up getting into plenty of trouble, but in the end, everything worked out," Dante said and patted Terrence's head with a warm smile.

"We'll tell you three the full story behind that when you're older if you're still interested, for now, me and Dante are going to check on Dawkins and Mark," Delgado said getting up and giving Terrence a kiss on his forehead.

"Yep, your sister will be down here soon enough to apologize. And like papa said we'll tell you all about that when you three are older if you want to know," Dante said and Terrence nodded and laid on the couch while he went to Tony's room where Mark was working.

"Everything go well?" Dawkins asked as he watched Mark work, Dante nodded at that as he noticed Tony next to Mark and watching while wagging his tail.

"Looks like he's warmed up to Mark already at least," Dante said with a chuckle as he watched Mark work.

"It went about as well as it could have gone," Delgado said as he sat down next to Dawkins.

Meanwhile, Mark was almost done painting Tony's room and seemed to be in a much better mood now.

"Yeah, but I think we handled it pretty well honestly," Dante said and smiled, noticing how nice the room was starting to look.

"Yes, it's better she learns now rather than later. Wouldn't you agree with Dante?" Dawkins teased with a giggle, and Dante just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," Dante said with a chuckle as he noticed Mark was almost done.

"It looks nice, I like the bright color, it's like sunshine. I think I like keeping it simple," Tony said with a smile putting his paws up on Mark's leg.

Delgado just giggled at that feeling good about how they handled this and was pretty confident that this lesson was going to stick with Tina for a very long time.

"I'm glad you like it, Tony," Mark said as he finished up painting the walls.

"I think I'll get Tina and let her apologize to Terrence, then she'll apologize to you two," Dante said and left once Mark was done, feeling he should go ahead and get Tina to apologize.

"Alright, Dante and Tony has really warmed up to Mark overall," Dawkins said as Dante left to get Tina.

"Thank you, Mark," Tony said and was excitedly licking Mark and hopping on him while wagging his tail.

"You're welcome Tony," Mark said laughing a bit as he started petting Tony as he hopped around.

"Alright, Dante see you in a minute," Delgado said waving Dante off before he turned to Dawkins and continued with "and I may not know him all that well yet but if he got Tony to warm up to him that fast then he must be quite a guy".

"Hey, I wouldn't pick just anyone to be around my family," Dawkins said with a smile, knowing what Delgado meant.

Tony was enjoying the attention as he nuzzled Mark and was being affectionate, which Dawkins couldn't help smiling at.

Delgado just giggled a bit at that for a second before he said "I guess that's true" and with that he just watched Tony and Mark play for a bit in silence while they waited for Dante to come back with Tina.

It wasn't too much longer and Dante arrived with Tina and Terrence in tow. Tina went over to Dawkins and leaned against him. "I'm sorry uncle Dawkins, I shouldn't have said that..." Tina said and Dawkins put an arm around her.

"Alright, Tina... Just don't say anything like that again," Dawkins said in a fatherly tone, which surprised him a little. Dante was just happy Tina seemed to understand she was in the wrong.

Delgado was relieved Tina was learning her lesson and just watched on with a smile on his face.

Tina went over to Mark as Tony started to settle down. "I'm sorry Mark, and thank you for still painting my room anyway," Tina said a bit shyly, not used to talking with humans but also felt awkward having had that outburst in front of him.

"It's okay Tina, and you're welcome," Mark said, giving her a few pets.

Tina licked his hand a bit before walking over to Dante, he just gave her a pat on the head and smiled.

"Good girl, Tina," Dante said as he just waited for the others to decide what they wanted to do.

"Oh yeah Tina said she'd help me add paw prints to the walls," Terrence said with a wag of his tail and was ready to add the paw prints to his room.

"Alright the paint should be dry by now too," Mark said getting ready to follow them back to Terrence's room.

"Alright, come on kids, let's go," Dante said and got his kids to follow him and the others as they went to Terrence's room to add the paw prints like he wanted.

Once they got there Mark thought of something and said "I can help you guys reach the higher spots by picking you guys up if no one has a problem with that" he was just making a suggestion but he knew that might be a little weird.

"That sounds good," Tony said to which Terrence and Tina nodded, not having a complaint as they dipped their paws into the pink paint and got to adding the paw prints where they could reach excitedly.

Dante and Dawkins just watched for now and let the pups enjoy themselves or a bit. Dante figured if Tina wanted to help her brother to make it up to him he had no reason to be against it.

Delgado just sat back and watched with Dante and Dawkins as the kids got to putting paw prints on the walls and Mark taking turns with each of the kids to let them put a few higher than they normally could.

After a bit, it looked like they had enough that they were spaced out far enough and the pups went and washed their paws off in the water Dante had set up to clean the paint off.

"Alright those should be dry soon enough, I'd stick around and hang out for a bit but I've got somewhere to be soon," Mark said getting ready to leave.

"Right, also this thing is almost out of battery so we should get going, See you all later," Dawkins said as he and Mark went to the door to leave. Dante and the kids waving goodbye to the two of them.

Delgado waved goodbye as well and as soon as they were outside Mark said "well despite the family drama I'd say this test was a complete success, didn't have any issues even with everyone in the same room".

"Eh, it happens I suppose but well... Those kids... They've had some trouble by the time Dante and Delgado had started taking care of them and those two have been working hard to help them live a somewhat normal life," Dawkins explained as they walked, not really wanting to get into it. It didn't excuse Tina, but he figured it probably came from somewhere back before the pups lived with Dante.

"It's fine honest, even without a troubled past kids tend to not have much of a filter, good on Dante and Delgado for getting on top of that as quickly as they did, I know some parents that will let their kids say much worse out in public and will yell at you when you ask them to do something about it," Mark said with a shrug just glad that it was taken care of.

"Yeah, normally Tina's a sweetheart though. Bit of a tomboy, but definitely sweet and I know she loves her brothers. In fact, she reminds me of one of my sisters at times," Dawkins said with a giggle as they walked, glad Mark understood she was still learning.

"I'll be sure to ask about her some time, as for right now my turn is coming up, see you later Dawkins," Mark said with a laugh getting ready to bid Dawkins farewell for now.

"Alright, see you next time Mark," Dawkins said with a laugh as he made his way home with a smile on his face.


	35. Two in the Bush

Dora had just got done making dinner for D3, having been enjoying the time they had. She did love having the house to herself or it only being D3 around, but she couldn't deny looking forward to having pups around. It would mean planning things around them and having to be a bit more careful with things, but she felt more than ready for them.

Just then D3 came in from the front door having just gotten home from work "Dora I'm home" he said as he went to find her.

"Alright, just finished getting dinner ready. Have to admit, I never saw myself being a housewife but you won't hear me complain," Dora said with a giggle as she greeted him with a kiss.

D3 just chuckled a bit and kissed her back before he said "I didn't really see that coming either, you never seemed like the type, funny how things work out, oh well, you want to go for a walk after we eat?"

"That sounds great, it's a really lovely night," Dora said with a smile and wagged her tail as she walked over to the table, her normal vigor having finally returned in full. She'd gotten everything ready at this point, so all they had to do was eat. "How was work, honey? Better than the holidays?" Dora said with a giggle, knowing how hectic airports can be at any given time.

"Oh trust me it doesn't get much worse than during the holidays," D3 said with a laugh as he sat down "for real though it was pretty good today, looks like people remembered to have some common sense and act like actual adults today, if only it could be that easy every day".

"That's good, always good when they do. And I know what you mean... So, hear any humans talking about that viral video?" Dora asked, she knew he wouldn't have to guess what she was referring to as it had created quite the stir everywhere. She was a little worried for Dawkins but felt he knew what he was doing.

"A few, sadly I couldn't manage to eavesdrop to any of them for one reason or another but from what I heard the debates were pretty civil," D3 said as he got to eating just glad no humans seemed to be angry at the idea of a talking dog, it just didn't line up with their worldview so to speak.

"Good, even most dogs know what to think but Dawkins hasn't been getting death threats or anything crazy. Though, I'd say Dawkins helped himself even it was a mistake. It's made everyone curious, and I did get out earlier and overheard a couple of humans talking on what it would mean if it wasn't 'fake'," Dora said using air quotes when she said the last word and got to eating.

"Yeah even if it was a mistake I think that was for the best in the long run, it has gotten humans everywhere thinking about the possibility and at the rate Dawkins is working on his invention he'll have it ready to make his big reveal just before these talks start to wind down," D3 said with a shrug not really sure how he felt about that.

"Very true, Mark's really helped move it along," Dora said as she finished her kibble and gave herself a minute to relax. "According to Dante, Tony seemed to love him. But, I know Dawkins wasn't going to get just anyone for this," Dora said as she thought it over.

"Yeah he seems like a cool guy, I should probably at least introduce myself to him before Dawkins gets done with his invention some time," D3 said as he finished his kibble as well.

"Hehe, we could both do that," Dora said with a giggle as she got ready to put the bowls away, ready for a nice walk with her husband. "Tina will not be visiting us this week, by the way, she got grounded and I had a very motherly talk with her that's all I'll say," Dora said as they had planned to let Tina stay with them for a couple of days.

"Ah okay, I'll ask Dante what she did later, for now, let's just enjoy the evening," D3 said as he helped Dora put the bowls away before they got ready to leave.

"Very well, let's have a nice evening," Dora said with a smile as they walked out the door and closed it behind them, it was a little chilly but they still had their winter coats so it wasn't much of a problem

"So anywhere you want to go? Maybe we could head to the park for old times sake" D3 said with a laugh just throwing out a suggestion.

"Sure, I don't have any ideas in particular," Dora said as they walked and laughed a bit as well, just wanting to enjoy the night.

D3 just chuckled a bit at that and gave her a nuzzle as they walked just enjoying being with her.

"I do love it just being the two of us, but it will be fun once we adopt," Dora said thoughtfully as they made their way to the park, enjoying the sunset as she leaned against D3.

"Yeah I feel the same way," D3 said as they entered the park "and I know we agreed on adopting a mixed breed but do you have any idea what kind you would want? I know it'll depend on what's in the shelter but I think it'll be good to have a rough idea of what we would want".

"Hmm, well I still want a boy but as far as mixed-breed... Maybe a Shepsky? They're quite cute," Dora said as they walked and began to walk to their usual favorite spot, she knew it would always be a special spot for them and never minded sitting there with him.

"That could work though I'm not budging on wanting a girl," D3 said with a laugh as he sat down with her. He still remembered the day they first met in this very spot like it was yesterday and it still amazes him how perfectly that worked out, he could have run into her at any point before then but he didn't, he only saw her after he had his change of heart just in time to save her life. He never put much stock in Deepak's belief that the universe had a plan for everyone in it but that moment and the story Dylan had about how he had found D3 and his brothers have made him consider it more than once.

Dora giggled a bit at what D3 said, and knew they'd be happy either way if she were honest. Dora had similar thoughts to D3, in a way she felt maybe she was D3's redemption in a sense. It was crazy how perfectly it had all happened, if even one thing didn't occur the way it had it would've gotten a lot worse. But, for now, she sat next to the water and was ready to enjoy the evening with D3.

D3 shook his head trying to put these thoughts out of his head for now and just focused on what was happening now and leaned against Dora and closed his eyes.

Dora closed her eyes as well, feeling the sunlight hitting her fur as they just shared a moment of silence and let their minds settle down. That was all the past, and now they were together, and soon enough they would be parents one way or another.

They stayed like that for a long while, seemingly oblivious to the world around them as the sun went beyond the horizon and the park's lights started to switch on.

Dora nuzzled D3 and was enjoying the calm, noting the park was starting to clear out for the night and loving how beautiful the park looked. "So, anything you feel like doing before the nights over?" Dora said as she laid down with D3.

D3 nuzzled her back before he said "I'm not sure, I guess we cou-" D3 stopped mid-sentence as he heard something moving in a nearby bush.

Dora's ears perked up a bit as she turned to a nearby bush having heard the noise as well. "Think it could be a squirrel or other small animal?" Dora asked as she stood up to look, now a bit curious.

"It couldn't hurt just to be sure," D3 said in a whisper as he got up and quietly made his way over to where they heard it coming from.

Dora went over to the bush to look in it and see what they could find, not able to make out anything as it was dark. "I don't see anything was probably just the wind," Dora said as she looked, though still felt like she needed to keep looking and she couldn't figure out why.

"Hold on let me just..." D3 said as he stepped into the bush a bit feeling like he should keep looking as well and felt himself step on what felt like a tiny paw before a high pitch scream was heard throughout the whole park coming from right in front of D3.

"Well, that sounds odd," Dora said and decided to crawl under the bush only to be met with tiny eyes looking back at her. She blinked a second as she tried to make out what and who was staring back at her.

D3 stepped back in shock and once he got his ears to stop ringing he said "Alright why don't we all step into the light since there's not much more reason for hiding at this point" he was kind of kidding with that as he was pretty sure it was a dog they were dealing with if that paw was anything to go off of but much to his surprise it seemed to actually work as two puppies stepped out of the bush and into the light with their heads down. The first thing D3 noticed was that they had the body shape of that of a corgi but their fur was white with black spots like you'd expect from a dalmatian.

Dora stepped back and looked at them as well, it was still a bit too dark to tell them apart but she couldn't help but wonder how long they were there. "You two aren't in trouble but first, are you two lost?" Dora said as she looked over the puppies not seeing any signs of malnutrition at least for now.

"Well yes and no... it's true we don't really know where we are but being lost kind of implies you have somewhere you're supposed to be" the one on the left pipes up and was a boy from what his voice sounded like.

It didn't take long for D3 to realize what he meant by that as he remembered thinking the same thing a long time ago.

"I see, so you kids don't have anywhere to go?" Dora asked which she admitted sounded like a stupid question but she wanted to hear it from them before she thought of what she and D3 should do. She didn't have to guess what the boy meant with what he said at the very least.

They both shook their heads no, confirming that they were orphans. "What do you think we should do? we can't just leave them here that's for sure" D3 said leaning in and whispering to Dora low enough so they couldn't hear it.

"It's a bit late, we should at least offer them to stay at our house for the night and we decide what to do in the morning," Dora whispered before turning back to the pups. "So, do you two have names?" Dora asked, wanting to know if they at least had names for themselves.

"We... we don't... we know that's something everyone is supposed to have and what it's for but we don't recall ever having one ourselves..." the other one said and definitely sounded like a young girl.

That broke D3's heart hearing that. At least he and his brothers had come up with a name for themselves by their age even if it was the same name for all three of them "how do you two feel about coming with us for tonight? we can get you a decent meal and a warm bed while you stay with us" D3 said knowing that alone was going to be very tempting for them.

"Yeah, we can at least give you that for now. As for names, maybe you can be 'Donut' and she can be 'Daffodil' or 'Daffy' for short?" Dora said as she felt bad they didn't even have a name or seem to remember where they came from.

The two of them seemed to lighten up at that quite a bit "Oh wow thank you so much we'll love to go, and I love that name, and it's definitely better than nothing" Donut said wagging his tail.

"Yeah same here, oh I can't remember the last time I slept in a real bed," Daffy said giggling a bit and was wagging her tail as well.

"Alright then you two, come on, we should get going," D3 said with a laugh and got ready to lead them to their home.

"Yeah, just follow us, and by the way. How long were you two watching us?" Dora asked as she led them home, she was more curious than anything. Honestly, she didn't have the heart to turn them away regardless, D3 and her had lived on the streets before so it was a bit close to home seeing these two pups.

"For a few minutes, we were just waiting for you two to leave so we could try and catch some fish, we didn't mean to spy on you two or anything," Donut said as they walked just being honest with her.

"I see, well good news is kibble doesn't run away when you try to eat it," Dora said with a giggle just wanting to make a joke, knowing how hard finding food on your own at that age was when she lived on the streets.

Donut and Daffy laughed at that a bit and after not too much longer they were there "alright let me just unlock the door real quick" D3 said as he put his paw on the door scanner Dawkins had installed for them when they first moved in and just like that the door popped open.

Dora went inside and went to the kitchen finding two small bowls and filling them with kibble before setting them at the table. "Alright, there you go and by the way I'm Dora and that's D3," Dora said remembering they hadn't told the pups their names, before sitting in the living room.

Donut and Daffy nodded at that as they got to eating without another word just glad they were able to get a free meal for once in their short lives.

D3 went into the living room and sat down next to Dora before he said "well I didn't see that coming to say the least".

"Me neither, hmm we'll have to decide what to do with them as we can't just kick them out in the morning. I don't think either of us would do that, so we'll need to decide what we'll do. This was a bit out of left field," Dora said as she nuzzled D3 and mulled it over in her mind.

"Yeah no kidding" D3 said thinking everything over for a second before he continued with "wait this is probably perfect".

"Wait a minute, we had agreed on one... or two... Also, we can't decide on... Huh..." Dora said as it was starting to click with her as well, realizing that those two might be perfect for them.

"That's something else, I might need to talk to Deepak about this universe stuff after all because these two are everything we were looking for," D3 said out loud as he thought everything over.

"I might as well too, the chances of this are completely uncanny," Dora said with a nervous laugh, not really sure what to think at this point. Plus it was at the one spot that meant everything to her and D3, sure the pups wouldn't know that but she couldn't deny how crazy the coincidence was.

"I know it would be crazy of us not to but I need to hear it out loud that we agree that we're adopting these two before I do anything else," D3 said just wanting to double-check here as this was a big decision.

"They're here, they need a home, we've been looking at adopting and were going to start looking tomorrow anyway... Let's go ahead, if they want to... But, I doubt they'd refuse," Dora said as she got up and had made her mind up on the matter, like a motherly instinct rising up in her already, and yet she hadn't known these kids for an hour.

"Alright, let's go ahead and let them know, they should be done eating by now anyway," D3 said agreeing with her completely as he got up and started making his way over to them.

"Yeah, we ended up deciding on this a lot quicker than I expected honestly," Dora said with a giggle she went to the kitchen to tell the kids what D3 and her had agreed upon.

D3 laughed at that as well and when they got there they saw Donut and Daffy looking around the room but their attention snapped to D3 and Dora when they came in "So we thought it over a bit and we want to ask you two something".

"Oh, what is it?" Donut asked curiously wondering what this was about.

"Go ahead, it's not like we have anything to hide," Daffy said, having no idea what was coming.

"How would you feel if the two of us were willing to adopt both of you? We talked about it and given that we had been planning on adopting soon anyway, we decided we'd be willing to if you want it," Dora said as she tried not to get her hopes up just in case, while she waited for the pups to respond.

The two of them went wide-eyed for a second before they run up and hugged both of them and just started saying "yes!" over and over again. it was clear as day they were overjoyed by this.

"Hehe, just once is enough you two," D3 said laughing a bit as he hugged them back.

"Yeah, let's all try and get some sleep. We'll work out the details tomorrow, now let's show you two to your room," Dora said with a giggle at the two as she walked to the room she'd had set up.

The two of them nodded at that and followed along just glad to have a home now as they stepped into the room.

"There's only one bed for now so you guys will have to share until we can get that sorted out," Dora said with a warm smile as she let them walk around the room and explore. She knew there would be things that needed to be done before those two could officially be D3 and her kids but was content that they at least got this far.

"That's fine, we're used to cuddling up at night anyway, it gets cold at night, especially during winter," Daffy said as she looked around not seeming to mind that at all.

"Isn't that the truth" D3 said under his breath as he remembered having to do that with his brothers back when they lived on the streets.

"Yeah... Tell me about it..." Dora said and tried to say it low where no one heard it as she got ready to go to her and D3's room. She let out a yawn as she found herself tired after that but was glad they went ahead and did this, all four dogs were happy and that's all that mattered as far as she was concerned.

"You two go ahead and get some sleep, see you in the morning," D3 said and turned off the light to the room once they were both in the bed and then made his way to his and Dora's room as well.

Dora was already in bed when he arrived, she was waiting for him to lay with her and just smiled. "Well, guess that's one way to settle the boy or girl issue we were having," Dora said with a bit of a laugh, finding it a bit funny that she didn't see that as a solution.

D3 just laughed as he laid down with her and nuzzled her before he said: "yeah for some reason the thought of just getting two kids never crossed my mind for some reason, oh well, we have some work to do but so far I'm liking this outcome".

"Yeah, we'll need to see if we can find any information on them such as records of some kind and also get official papers to sign somehow," Dora said as she closed her eyes and knew it would be a little more difficult but knew they could at least get Pearl to help out with that.

"Yeah, even in the worst-case scenario where whoever their bio parents have competently covered up even having them like mine did we can still work something out, I mean we have the kids with us, it won't be hard proving they exist, it'll just mean more paperwork," D3 said hoping that won't be the case but had a funny feeling it will be.

"That's true and yeah, but if they didn't have names... I doubt anyone would come looking for them..." Dora said and knew full well there was no way these would have anyone claiming them as they seemed to have been completely abandoned.

"Yeah that's true, as sad as it is at least we won't have to worry about that much" D3 said with a yawn and closed his eyes "in the morning we should probably make a few calls just to let the rest of the family know what's going on by the way".

"I agree, and those two are in for a few surprises but we'll get there," Dora said and kissed D3 before closing her eyes. "I wonder why their parents would've abandoned them... eh, it's getting late and I've learned the less I know about some things the better..." Dora said with a sigh as she tried to relax enough to fall asleep.

"Given that they seem to be part corgi I can think of a few reasons why but I'm not saying them out loud," D3 said bitterly before he just tried to go to sleep and after a while, he managed to do so.

"Yeah..." Dora let out before managing to sleep herself, knowing what D3 was implying there but wasn't going to say it out loud.


	36. Sipping Tea

It had been a few days and word had definitely got around, in fact, Clarissa called Dora wanting to speak with the two and see the pups for herself. Dora had figured she'd ask if Clarissa had known a Corgi who was with a Dalmatian, which she didn't get her hopes up but figured that would be worth asking. D3 and her, along with the kids had already been growing accustomed to the new life they had while working out paperwork and with plenty of help it seemed it was going to be a little easier than the two had thought.

D3 sat in the living room next to Dora while they waited for Clarissa to show up as their kids played hide and seek in the meantime. Delilah had come over as soon as she had heard about these two and did a full check-up on them. It turned out that aside from desperately needing to catch up on their shots and being a tad underweight for their age they seemed to be perfectly healthy which was more than a bit relieving to hear.

Dora had to admit she was relieved and Delilah took care of their shots and she knew that they'd be a healthy weight soon enough as she knew the weight problem was more due to them not being able to eat as often as they should've been. For now, Dora waited in silence, feeling this wasn't going to be too difficult now.

After a few more minutes they heard their doorbell ring "That's probably Clarissa, come on let's let her in" D3 said chuckling a bit. He was still amazed all these years later that Clarissa had actually grown a heart, something he had talked to Dora about but he knew she didn't fully understand as she had never even known the old Clarissa as she had started to become a better dog long before Dora had the chance to meet her. but then again he was another example of something like that so he wasn't one to talk.

"Yes, let's let her in," Dora said as she got up and went to the door, she'd only heard Clarissa insult her once and that was on accident as it wasn't directed at her but was more out of frustration plus Clarissa seemed quick to apologize. Dora opened the door to greet Clarissa and with a smile wanting to let Clarissa in before getting the pups.

"Hello there you two, may I come in?" Clarissa asked once the door opened.

"Sure thing Clarissa come on in," D3 said, stepping aside for her to do just that.

"Yeah, I'll let the pups know you're here," Dora said and went to get the pups. "Alright, kids we have someone else that wants to meet you two!" Dora called out to the kids, knowing they'd been enjoying meeting all their new family which she was glad about.

Donut and Daffy came running at that and soon enough they were jumping around Clarissa and were excited to meet another new person.

"Oh you two are... the cutest things I've ever seen, come give aunty Clarissa a hug," Clarissa said holding out her arms waiting for that hug which they didn't keep her waiting long.

D3 noticed that wasn't what she was going to say at first before she stopped herself but he knew he was going to have to wait on asking about that when the kids weren't in earshot.

"She's trying..." Dora whispered to D3 before turning to the three with a smile. "So this is Donut and that's Daffodil, though we just call her Daffy for short," Dora said to Clarissa, she did giggle as it was cute seeing essentially two corgis with Dalmatian level energy running around.

D3 nodded at that before taking in a deep breath and deciding to just let it go.

Clarissa giggled a bit as the kids let go of her and said: "well it's nice to meet the two of you, I'll be sure to stop by every once in and awhile".

"It's nice to meet you too aunt Clarissa," Donut and Daffy said at the same time and D3 just chuckled at never having seen him being okay with his kids calling Clarissa that coming but couldn't say he minds too much.

"Alright kids, we need to talk with Aunt Clarissa so why don't you go back to playing for now," Dora said, wanting to go ahead and get the serious talk out of the way and took a seat on the couch. She did want the pups to have fun but her, Clarissa, and D3 knew they had a few things to talk about that was better that the pups didn't worry about.

"Okay mom," Donut said as he and Daffy went back to playing hide and seek.

D3 was a bit surprised at how quickly Donut and Daffy had taken to calling them mom and dad but he shrugged it off as the three of them sat down on the couch.

Dora was a bit surprised as well, but it warmed her heart that they'd been warming up to them so quickly. "Alright, Clarissa... While I'd doubt it... Do they have any familiarity with you or anyone you know?" Dora asked just wanting to get it out of the way and was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry Dora I honestly have no idea who these kid's bio parents could be... well maybe... no, that was proven to be all hearsay and rumors years ago... then again they do look to be about the right age for when that all happened..." Clarissa said her eyes wandered a bit as she thought about it a bit more.

"What do you mean? No harm in telling us, besides I doubt anyone's looking for them honestly," Dora said with a sigh, it was a sad thing to admit but Dora and D3 knew all too well what it was like to have nowhere to go.

"Yeah just say it, it couldn't hurt at this point," D3 said with a sigh.

Clarissa let out a sigh and said "Alright then but do keep in mind that this could easily just be a coincidence or I'm reading too much into this" and with that Clarissa took in a deep breath as she got ready to tell them this "a few years back there was talk of prince Waffles of the royal corgis had been secretly dating a dalmatian girl that had been seen around the palace and I'm not sure on the details but at some point, it had escalated into talk of him having accidentally gotten her pregnant, it only stopped when a public announcement by Waffles himself stating that these rumors were unfounded and lies and all that and that was the last I heard of it".

"Huh, that definitely sounds interesting... But, like you said... It was probably just a crazy rumor, plus what are the odds at that... Okay, I'm not going to jinx it," Dora said with a nervous laugh, knowing how odds seemed to work with her and D3.

"Quite right Dora and even if it was true..." Clarissa said and took a second to think on how she wanted to phase this "well while I have no doubts you _could_ be able to prove it knowing your family I don't really think you _should_... at least not yet, they're only going to be kids once, I say let them enjoy that before we open that can of worms".

"You may have a point there, right now we should leave well enough alone," D3 said as he thought that over "plus the world is going to get hectic enough with Dawkins's invention soon, I don't think people need this on top of that".

"Yeah, we found the kids and they're happy to have a nice home and everyone's winning here without any drama. Me and my brothers have plenty of experience sticking our nose where it doesn't belong, among other things... And yeah, let's give Dawkins his moment to shine and not cause everyone a bunch of grief... I think it's safer to leave it as we found two abandoned pups and adopted them, as far as it matters D3 and I are their parents now," Dora said and wanted to leave good and well enough alone, she knew D3 would agree they both knew way more than they really cared to already.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly Dora," D3 said and gave Dora a nuzzle as he thought all of this over in his head.

"But, thanks for talking with us Clarissa... Anything else, D3?" Dora asked and nuzzled him back as she wanted to make sure that was all they had to say.

"Oh you're quite welcome dearie, it was my pleasure," Clarissa said with a laugh.

"Well... there is one thing, but it has nothing to do with the kids, I've been meaning to ask for a very long time but I've honestly never gotten a good chance to" D3 said thinking he was never going to get a good moment to ask Clarissa this anyway.

"Er... Go ahead D3," Dora said and gave him the okay not really sure where this would go.

"It's just... years ago when our family secret became not so secret anymore everyone we knew was shocked, to say the least but you... you didn't even bat an eye, out of everyone I thought you would have the biggest issue with it" D3 said, very confused.

Clarissa just laughed a bit at that before she said "it's true most dogs today have an issue that but honestly they forget that pretty much every dog breed, even corgis, is a byproduct of countless generations of incest, I'm not saying that's right or wrong but to say that the temptation of doing something like that isn't hard-wired into our brains at this point is very foolish, make of that as you will".

"Well, considering the talks me and Dante had even way back when things... Weren't so peachy... Yeah, that makes sense and to be fair it isn't completely unheard of either," Dora said as she thought it over and had to admit that Clarissa had surprised her. "Also, historically dogs were pressured into breeding with the same breed so..." Dora added more to herself than anything.

"precisely my dear" Clarissa said with a laugh "anyhow I was just stopped by to see the pups, I'll visit for real some other time, right now I've got somewhere to be" Clarissa continued as she was getting up.

"Alright see you then," D3 said, still trying to wrap his head around what she just told them.

"Ah alright, kids come tell Aunt Clarissa bye. Something came up and she has to go," Dora said, wanting to let the kids say bye at least.

Donut and Daffy came running again at that and gave her another hug and at the same time they said "goodbye aunt Clarissa".

"Goodbye you two, I'll be back soon I promise," Clarissa said hugging them back and after a minute she let them go and waved them goodbye as she left.

"Alright, that was interesting..." Dora said once Clarissa left, taking a deep breath and just trying to relax her mind after that info dump.

"Yeah no kidding, let's just try and relax the best we can for the rest of today," D3 said giving Dora a nuzzle and just wanted to put all of that out of his mind for now.

"Sure thing D3, alright kids go back to whatever you were doing for now," Dora said and nuzzled D3 back laying on the sofa.

Donut and Daffy ran off to play again as D3 laid down next to Dora and cuddled up to her and closed his eyes as he let the rest of the world melt away.

Dora smiled and it wasn't long before she was fast asleep, needing a bit of a mental reset and knowing the kids would be fine if her and D3 napped for a bit.

D3 was right behind her as he needed a rest after that as well.


	37. Husky Visitor

Hansel was making his way to Dylan and Dolly's house, having agreed to visit, and did feel like catching up a bit. While he and Roxy did probably react the worst at first, it was something they quickly made up over and Hansel did admit maybe he overreacted a little.

Dylan had gotten everything ready for Hansel's visit. Dylan understood why Hansel had freaked out when they first told him about this and was just glad they managed to patch things up.

Hansel knocked on the door to be let in and waited for anyone to answer. It wasn't long before the door opened and he was greeted by Dolly.

"Hey, Hansel. Come on in," Dolly said with a smile, glad everything worked out in the end too. She closed the door and led Hansel to the living room, the pups playing around the house for now.

"Hey Hansel, it's good to see you, how have you been lately?" Dylan said as they came into the living room and was sitting on the couch waiting for them.

"I've been great, spending time with my family and overall just enjoying myself. Hope things haven't been too crazy for you guys," Hansel said with a chuckle having not been able to chat with them for a while.

"Hehe, well it's not been too bad with us, to say the least," Dolly said with a nervous laugh and tried to play it off, feeling Hansel probably didn't need to hear some of the stuff going on.

"Hehe yeah though I will admit we have had plenty of new arrivals to the family lately," Dylan said with a laugh figuring that was self-explanatory.

"I'm sure, you guys as they say multiply like rabbits~," Hansel said and playfully chuckled as Dolly shook her head.

"Hey now, big guy~ Don't act like you haven't been expanding your family tree~," Dolly said with a playful punch to Hansel's shoulder and a laugh as well.

"Yeah~ What litter are you and Roxy on again? I lost track at around six" Dylan said with a laugh, still a bit surprised that those two got together but he wasn't one to judge that was for sure.

"Hehe~ Actually that's right and... She's expecting again~" Hansel said with a laugh and was admittedly surprised he and Roxy decided to have such a large family.

"Oh my, well have fun and tell her I said congrats~ Dylan and I talked about it but I think we're both happy with how many we have," Dolly said with a giggle and smiled, happy for her friends.

"Congratulations Hansel, you tell Roxy we're both happy for the two of you, and yeah after basically being a second set of parents for all our siblings growing up I think we're fine with a relatively small amount of kids," Dylan said laughing a bit at all of this.

"Yep, Da Vinci recently had a litter of fifteen, Dante and Delgado have three kids now, and Dora and D3 have two, plus D1 and Destiny decided on another litter," Dolly said and laughed a bit, it seemed everyone was going to have their hands full with all the pups running around.

"I will, and I guess your kids will have plenty of relatives to play with from now on," Hansel said with a chuckle as well.

"Oh they sure will and our family is only going to grow as more and more of our siblings start moving out from our parents place and starting having kids as well," Dylan said laughing at just how huge their family was and how big it could get as time went on.

"Soon enough, you all will take over London," Hansel said with a laugh, knowing how large their family was and also knowing this was just the immediate family.

"Yep, that's the plan," Dolly said with a laugh and just wanted to play along with this for a bit, just having a bit of fun.

Dylan just laughed and rolled his eyes a bit at that before he said "anyway how have your parents been lately? I don't suppose they've lightened up on you not marrying another Husky by any chance?" Dylan wanted to be hopeful on this matter but he knew how old school Hansel's parents tended to be.

"Ugh, don't get me started... They still argue with me about being bisexual... But, I'm happy with Roxy and they might be slowly lightening up as they did ask to see the pups recently," Hansel admitted, knowing this was a hard subject but at least the Dalmatian family was always supportive and helpful even when they had disagreements.

"Of course, Hansel. I'm glad that they might be warming up to things a bit," Dolly said and patted his back with a smile.

"Yeah same here Hansel, we're here for you one hundred percent if you ever need us," Dylan said, smiling at Hansel.

"Thanks, you too, and sorry again about..." Hansel started before being shushed by Dolly before he could say another word.

"That's taken care of, and we know it was not something you'd normally expect," Dolly said and as she understood what happened but saw no real point dwelling on it as they made up over it.

"Yeah it's water under the bridge as far as we care," Dylan said agreeing with Dolly on this completely.

"Alright, you two... Let's see... Oh, Dawkins... I saw that viral video with him, Roxy asked me to bring it up," Hansel said and was wondering what their thoughts on it were. He wasn't sure about it, but he did see some benefits to it.

"Oh that, it's started quite the stir... And honestly, I think that's great once Dawkins comes out with this it'll turn the whole world on its head," Dolly said and just wanted to express her thoughts.

"While I do have some concerns for the short term once Dawkins comes out with this, I have to admit that the potential long term benefits for dogs everywhere outweigh them in my mind to put it simply" Dylan said just laying out why he wasn't freaking out like he normally does here best he could.

"Yes, I'm sure things will be shaky for a bit but it'll eventually work out," Hansel said as he thought over, kind of agreeing with Dylan.

"He might be finishing it sooner than we think at this rate," Dolly said, more to herself than anything.

"That's true, for something so complicated and finicky as translation is even between human languages Dawkins has been making progress at a very fast rate," Dylan said just thinking that over for a bit.

"Very interesting, but he's definitely a smart pup so it's not too surprising I'm sure," Hansel said with a laugh, having to admit that Dawkins knew what he was doing at least.

"Yep, he's moving along fast and has a human helping him. Actually, I’ve been meaning to go over there, wanted to talk with D2 a bit as well," Dolly said as she thought it over.

"Alright, I'll ask mom sometime soon and see if she can look after the kids for a while and we can head over" Dylan said with a laugh.

"Alright, then sounds like you two have a plan and I think I'll get going," Hansel said and stood up, noticing the time and remembering he needed to head back soon.

"Alright, Hansel. Thanks for coming over, it's been a really nice chat," Dolly said and hugged him before waving goodbye.

"Yeah, we know better then anyone it isn't easy dropping by with all the kids you have so we really appreciate you taking the time to come over, see you around Hansel," Dylan said with a laugh and waved Hansel goodbye as well.

"Right, one day we should set our pups on a play date. Even if they all can be a paw full," Hansel said with a laugh as well, as he made his way to the door.

"True, and we'll definitely work something out," Dolly said with a laugh herself.

"Yeah we'll think of something, tell Roxy we said hello," Dylan said as Hansel walked out and Dylan closed the door behind him.

"I will, see you next time," Hansel said and exited, going on his way.

"Hehe, it was nice having him over, and seems like everyone's having pups on the brain," Dolly said with a giggle as she closed the door and walked back to the living room.

"Yeah, I guess we're all at that point in our lives" Dylan said as he walked with her and sat down on the couch.

"Yep, though we have our paws full as it is," Dolly said with a chuckle as she kissed Dylan and laid down next to him.

"That's true," Dylan said as he kissed her back and cuddled up with her before he closed his eyes.

Dolly cuddled him back and closed her eyes, soon enough falling asleep and just enjoying the moment with Dylan.

Dylan was right behind her and was fast asleep as well, having to admit that Dolly had taught him how to slow down and relax every once and a while and he honestly couldn't thank her enough for that.


	38. Clearing Things Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dolly and Dylan talk with Pearl D2 and Dawkins about things that did need some clarification.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically a two parter as the second half of the chapter took on a bit a different focus.

Dolly was walking with Dylan to Dawkins' house, having agreed to meet up to chat with the two. "Those two are definitely made for each other, and they've come such a long way," Dolly said more to herself and felt proud of the two.

"No kidding, I'm really happy for the two of them," Dylan said with a laugh and glad their mom was able to watch their kids though he probably should have seen her wanting to stay at their place while she did it instead of dropping them off at hers coming.

"You can say that again, still not too sure of them helping Joan but I think we all are happy that D2 felt he could forgive her enough to help her," Dolly said thoughtfully as she walked, thinking that one over in her head.

Dylan nodded at that not really having much more to add to that, that the two haven't already talked about in private. They then turned a corner and saw officer Pearl with her human partner on break at a café and once she saw them as well she waved them over.

Dolly shrugged and walked over to Pearl seeing no reason to be concerned. "Hey, Pearl long time no see," Dolly said and walked up to her, smiling as she approached.

"Hello Dolly, it's nice to see you," Pearl said and then let out a laugh "oh wow, I never thought I'd say that a few years ago".

Dylan chuckled a bit and said: "yeah looking back I can see why, we didn't really make your job a cakewalk".

"Yeah, we definitely didn't help you have an easy time back then. Sorry, about that," Dolly said with a laugh and grinned, admitting they could've been better to Pearl.

"Oh it's alright, looking back I can see I was having more fun with your antics than I realized at the time," Pearl said, still laughing a bit.

"Well that's good at least," Dylan said feeling a bit relieved that Pearl at least looked back at those times fondly.

"Yeah, as long as we can laugh about it now," Dolly said with a giggle, just enjoying the moment right now.

"Yup, oh! Dylan, did Dolly ever tell you how that time she wanted to be a police dog ended?" Pearl asked knowing very well she hadn't.

"Oh yeah, I remember that, now that you mention it she didn't," Dylan said with a smug look on his face knowing this will be good.

"I... Not my best moment..." Dolly said bashfully and looked away, admittedly pretty embarrassed by that one.

"No it really wasn't, long story short me and her ended up wrecking Constantine's back yard and he called Captain Apollo, and when he showed up Dolly admittedly thought quickly and took the blame for it and told me to arrest her," Pearl said with a laugh before she continued with "though I decided to have some fun at her expense and acted like I was actually going to do it, I was halfway down the street and had her begging for her life before I couldn't keep up the act anymore".

"Oh boy, I wish I had been there to film that, it would have been gold," Dylan said chuckling a bit and was shaking his head.

"Hey, hey I got caught up in the moment," Dolly said and tried to defend herself, but knew she couldn't here.

"Sure Dolly, but for real though," Pearl said snapping to her serious voice as she was known to do "you're really lucky Apollo didn't know who you were and didn't even recognize you next time he saw you, if he had I would have been forced to either come clean or file you a criminal record at the very least, and given how much of a headache you used to be I don't think I would have come clean".

"Um... Hehe... I understand...." Dolly said and chuckled nervously, knowing she got really lucky there. She definitely caused more trouble than she was worth that day.

"Good" was all Pearl said and then her face lightened up again "now that, that's out of the way what are you two up to?"

"We were just on our way to visit Dawkins and D2, though we left a bit early so don't worry about holding us up too much," Dylan said laughing and was a bit nervous as well trying his best not to think of what could have happened to Dolly if she hadn't been so lucky.

"Yeah, we'd agreed to visit today and such. After that we may visit D3 and Dora," Dolly added as they had been to talk with those two.

"Aw that's nice, I don't have much going on myself these days ever since you two decided to start acting like adults, getting a bit too old for real police work anyhow," Pearl said laughing a bit and was only half-joking.

"Oh I'm sure that's not true, in fact, me and Dolly could give you one last adventure for old times sake," Dylan said smirking at that.

"Yeah no," Pearl said coldly and after a minute her and Dylan both burst out in laughter at that.

Dolly was laughing as well, admitting that at least they could get a good laugh out of this. "Don't worry, we have to set a good example for the pups... Which we do try doing a better job of these days," Dolly said once the three stopped laughing.

"That's good, it was nice seeing you two but I'll let you go, my partner seems to be ready to get back to work," Pearl said, noticing him coming their way.

"Alright Pearl it was nice seeing you," Dylan said getting up to leave.

"Yep, see you Pearl," Dolly said and followed Dylan, walking around the corner to Dawkins' house and sure they'd be waiting.

"That was nice seeing Pearl again after all this time, and I'm glad she isn't bitter about all the hell we put her through," Dylan said as they walked as he thought all of that over in his head.

"Same here, Dyl. But, at least we eventually grew out of it," Dolly said with a giggle and kept walking knowing they were close. Before long she got to the door and knocked.

"Oh hello you two," Dawkins said as soon as he opened the door and ushered the two in, excited for the company and had been looking forward to chatting with them.

"Hey Dawkins, how have you been?" Dylan said as they went inside.

"I've been good, me and D2 are just trying to enjoy ourselves before things get too crazy," Dawkins said with a laugh as he sat in the living room with two of them.

"I can imagine, glad you two are getting ready for the next step in life," Dolly said with a giggle and sat down as well.

"Yeah same here Dawkins, we're happy for the two of you," Dylan said smiling a bit as he sat down as well.

"Thanks, guys, I guess we both felt ready for it and I think it's good for us," Dawkins said with a smile.

"Yep, honestly you two deserve to be happy together. Dylan and I are really proud of what you two have overcome," Dolly said with a gentle smile, always being gentle and understanding for her siblings and whoever needed support at the time.

"Yeah what Dolly said Dawkins, I can't wait to attend the wedding, have you decided on a best man yet by the way?" Dylan asked knowing it was still a bit before the wedding was scheduled to take place but he still thought he'd ask.

"Hehe, well I have a few ideas," Dawkins said with a chuckle and figured he'd tease Dylan on it a bit. He and D2 already decided who would be who but hadn't officially asked anyone yet.

"Hehe, I'm sure you do," Dolly said with a giggle as she already caught on to who Dawkins had decided to ask.

Dylan just laughed a bit at that and shook his head before he said: "Alright Dawkins, anyway how has D2 been?"

"He's been doing well, hell you'd hardly know he even had any problems in the past and even with Joan I can tell he's genuinely wanting to help her. That's not to say it's perfect, but he chose to help her... I didn't ask him to, we all didn't even want him to have to see her... But, I think it's telling that he ended up helping her," Dawkins said and was thinking it over, smiling a bit as he was happy that D2 could look at Joan in the flesh and manage to keep calm.

"I admit, he's a grown adult and he's no longer that brother I knew to keep an eye on just in case. And it's good that he feels he can look her in the eyes now," Dolly said as she thought it over.

"Yeah no kidding, he has come a long way and I think we're all proud of him for it," Dylan said with a smile.

"Though, he seemed okay with Destiny even before he got better, and I kind of wonder about that. I mean even if D1 would've protected her if he needed to, even when he wasn't around D2 tended to be careful. He'd have to tell me himself, but my best guess he was trying to be respectful to his brother or at the very least not wanting to cause more drama," Dawkins said a bit curious as he and D2 never talked about it but he did notice him getting along with Destiny without D1 even before he got help.

"That could've been it, the only other explanation would be a crush on her but I don't think that was the case," Dolly said wondering herself but was sure Dawkins was closer to the truth than she was.

"I guess we could just ask him ourselves when he comes over, where is he anyway?" Dylan said looking around wondering where he was.

"He should be getting back soon, I did tell him we would be having company over around this time. Though too much longer I might need to go looking for him," Dawkins said and looked to the clock knowing D2 said he'd be back by now but figured he might be running late.

"Yeah, let's not worry yet as it could just be that he got caught up with something," Dolly said and was a little worried about him but knew he probably was just running late.

Just as Dolly got done saying that they heard the front door open and close before D2 ran in and said "sorry, just as I was about to leave Joan at rehab again they had surprised me with some paperwork out of nowhere".

"It's alright D2 it happens sometimes," Dylan said with a laugh as D2 sat down next to Dawkins.

"Yeah, it happens so anyway we kind of were talking about you a bit," Dawkins said and pulled D2 close to him as he usually did when they sat on the couch.

"Yeah, more specifically we were curious why you seemed to get along with Destiny before you even got any help. I hate bringing it up now, but figure no harm in asking," Dolly said gently and smiled the same smile she would give back when she helped him back then.

"Oh that, well um, I don't know, there was something about her that was just so genuine about her being so nice to me that something in my brain marked her as an exception to what I thought about most girls," D2 said trying his best to put this into words "in fact that's why I was there that night when she tied herself up in the attic with an open invitation to the family and poured my heart out about everything when I thought no one could hear me, I wanted to tell her for a long time but I couldn't ever find the courage".

"That makes sense actually, and I'm sure looking back you're a bit glad Dylan heard it," Dawkins said and kissed D2, knowing D2 felt good when he saw everyone wanting to support him.

"Yep, when I heard that from Dylan... I'll admit that I was furious after hearing what happened to you," Dolly said with a giggle, remembering when she talked to him after talking with Dylan and her parents.

"Yeah you may not have wanted anyone to hear that but I'm sure we're all glad I did," Dylan said laughing a bit.

"Thanks, guys really, honestly in the moment I was so sure I was going to get kicked out of the family when Dylan told me he heard everything but I think we can all agree that was the best mistake I ever made," D2 said giggling a bit after he kissed Dawkins back and gave him a nuzzle.

"Yep, and now here we all are and D2 seems like an entirely different person," Dawkins said and nuzzled D2 back with a giggle, glad they could laugh about it now.

"I can assure you that it wasn't even suggested D2, Dylan can attest that me and our parents were told about it we felt sorry for you but there was fury in our eyes that would've made anyone cower once we heard what she did. Which is why the four of us weren't sure about her living with you," Dolly shared and kept her smile, knowing she didn't have to tell him that but wanted to let him know.

"Yeah what Dolly said, we love you bro, it didn't even cross our minds to do something like that" Dylan said agreeing with Dolly completely.

"Thanks, you two, and I understand but try as I might I can't hate her after all the work I put into being a better dog," D2 said and took a moment to get his thoughts in order before he continued with "and I just think that if I could change for the better to the point where I'm pretty much a different person if given the right help, why can't she?"

"I understand, D2. And don't worry we've mostly all agreed to trust you on it at this point," Dolly said with a smile as she went over and sat next to D2.

"Yeah, and like I said if no one else does... I'll make sure to support you no matter what," Dawkins said as he and Dolly just hugged D2 for a bit.

Dylan joined the hug shortly after it started not having much to add, he found himself not feeling the need to leave a remark of some kind to everything these days ever since he and Dolly got married which was fine by him.

"Thanks, guys, I don't know what I'd do without any of you," D2 said as he hugged all three of them back.

"You're our brother, adopted or not, you're our family and nobody messes with our family," Dolly said as she continued with the hug and just wanted to stay there for the moment.

Dawkins just nodded and smiled as they hugged, it had gotten heavier than he expected but he'd rather D2 let his thoughts be known than keep them repressed.

Dylan nodded at that as well and D2 closed his eyes smiling at that.

After a few minutes, Dawkins and Dolly broke the hug, not saying a word as they both smiled at D2. He'd come a long way and all they wanted was him to be able to live and move forward. He was doing just that and everyone had noticed, which they were all proud of.

Dylan had let go at the same time Dawkins and Dolly had and didn't say a word either thinking much of the same.

D2 giggled a bit and said: "so what else did you guys talk about before I showed up, I couldn't have been the only thing".

"Hehe, oh just talking about what you two have been up to lately. We weren't expecting it to go the heavy route," Dolly said with a laugh and went back to set down.

"It happens, but we've been having plenty of fun lately. Trying to enjoy our alone time when we can and the two of us joke about it feeling like we have kids already between helping with Dante's pups and everything else," Dawkins said with a laugh and was just happy everything was going well.

D2 laughed a bit at that and said "yeah, you'd think that would put Dawkins even more off to the idea of having kids but if anything it has actually made him consider it".

"Well it's not like adding a few more kids to the family is going to hurt at this rate, whatever you two decide on though we'll all support," Dylan said with a laugh.

"Ah well, guess I do have a soft spot for them if anything and I guess seeing Tony having so much interest definitely is helping D2 persuade me a little," Dawkins said with a giggle.

"Yep, it's all up to you two and I know you're a big softy with kids once they're around you Dawkins," Dolly said with a giggle as well, teasing him and enjoying the change in subject.

"Hehe alright you two, we'll talk about having kids a bit more seriously after the wedding and get back to you two on it," D2 said giggling a bit.

"Alright, fair enough D2," Dylan said with a laugh knowing that was probably for the best.

"Yes, let's take off the other stuff before we get there," Dawkins said with a laugh, knowing the two had enough on their plate already for the time being.

"Good thinking, Dawkins. Trust me, pups can be fun but they are still a big responsibility and while if you asked me long ago if I could see you two around pups it would've been a firm no but you two have changed so much and I know you'll be good parents," Dolly said with a smile, always happy seeing them do well.

"Thanks, Dolly, it means a lot, honestly I probably would have given a similar answer if someone had asked me that around the same time frame," D2 said as he gave Dawkins a nuzzle.

"Yes, hehe I think maybe that's why I've been hesitant about it, just not sure of myself and such," Dawkins said with a warm smile and nuzzled D2 back.

"I know, but you don't have anything to worry about Dawkins trust me," Dolly said with a smile and giggle.

"Yeah you'll be fine trust me bro, and you'll have the rest of the family to fall back on just in case," Dylan said smiling at Dawkins.

"That's true, thanks, you two" D2 said and closed his eyes and yawned a bit "sorry, it was a bit of a long day at the rehab center with Joan today".

"Yeah, I can imagine and if she gives you any trouble there are plenty of dogs you can tell who'll put her in her place, love you D2," Dolly said as she stood up, figuring they should get back home. She knew her mom would be fine, but also wanted to let Dawkins and D2 rest a bit.

"If something happens, you'll be one of the first to know but in all seriousness, she does seem genuinely sorry for what she did and D2 and I told her if we so much as think there's a chance she's faking being sorry then our deal will be off," Dawkins said as he got up to see Dylan and Dolly off.

"Yeah what Dawkins said, see you guys later," D2 said as he laid down on the couch and went to rest his eyes a bit.

"Alright then, see you two later," Dylan said as he left with Dolly.

"Yep, bye you two nice talking with you," Dawkins said and closed the door behind them once they left, just laying down with D2 and able to tell it had been one of the longer days at the rehab center.

By the time Dawkins came over to lay next to him, he was already fast asleep. Meanwhile, Dylan made his way home with Dolly in tow feeling good about how today had gone.

"I think this all went well, hopefully, the pups aren't giving mom too much trouble," Dolly said with a laugh as they made their way home.

"I think she'll be fine for the most part, the only two she would have to keep a close eye on are Donna and Dylan Jr honestly and we have warned her about them more than once," Dylan said with a shrug as they walked.

"Those two sometimes... Mom said it's karma for how we were," Dolly said with a laugh as she nuzzled Dylan, knowing it wasn't too far.

Dylan nuzzled her back and chuckled a bit before he said "it sure feels like it sometimes, oh well, hopefully, they'll grow out of it like we did".

"Hopefully, Oh right we did mention trying to visit Dora and D3. Nah, we shouldn't show up unannounced," Dolly said and thought it over, noticing the sky was getting about cloudy and realized they hadn't dressed for rain.

"Yeah, let's just head home before it starts raining, we can try and visit them some other time," Dylan said as they walked and was glad they didn't live that far away from Dawkins and D2 as he saw their house coming up.


	39. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dylan and Dolly arrive home to find that they have a very awkward conversation with their oldest children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can't tell by title or description, yes this is referring to that talk and it is as awkward as could be you have been warned.

Dolly entered first with Dylan behind her, making it just in time before it started pouring. "Alright, everyone, we're home," Dolly said once they were inside and went to the living room, though noted she didn't hear anything and figured the pups might be asleep.

Dylan went to the living room with Dolly finding the silence odd but brushed it off the same way Dolly did as he followed her.

As expected, all the pups had fallen asleep in the living room and Dolly just giggled at the sight. But she still didn't see Delilah at the moment.

Dylan smiled at the sight but being Dylan he did a bit of a headcount without disturbing their kids and noticed Donna and Dylan Jr weren't in the mix and Dolly could tell just from the look on Dylan's face.

Dolly sighed and walked upstairs, knowing where Delilah was and wondering what those two did now.

Dylan was right behind her knowing where they were as well.

Dolly knocked on the door and could hear Delilah talking as she did so, just waiting for the ok even if it was her and Dylan's house. She just wanted to make sure it was okay to enter.

Delilah opened the door and stepped out rather quickly and said: "Oh thank Dog you're home, this isn't anything I haven't dealt with before but it's not really my place to talk to your kids about it".

"Whoa mom back up, what happened?" Dylan asked, wondering what was going on.

"They really outdid themselves here didn't they?" Dolly let out as she walked inside to see her pups sheepishly smiling with their heads lowered.

Donna rubbed her left leg, not sure how her parents would react to this one.

Dylan and Delilah went in with her and Delilah said "it's not like they did anything bad, it's just... they're your oldest, and you know how once you reach a certain age you kind of... notice things you hadn't before" and as Delilah talked Dylan quickly put it together what was going on.

"Oh... Yeah... Um... Well...." Dolly said, being caught off guard even if Dylan and she had been discussing that the two had been approaching that age.

"I was feeling really hot and I noticed I was swollen down there and asked him to look..." Donna said, sounding a little panicky, but it wasn't hard for Dolly to piece that together.

"Okay, that says everything...." Dolly said and took a deep breath, Delilah had warned her to prepare for this talk and now she was a bit put on the spot.

"Well now that you two know what's going on I wish you two good luck, I'll be in the living room for moral support," Delilah said and quickly made herself scarce.

"No wait hold... on..." Dylan said, trying to keep Delilah here in vain.

"Okay, you two aren't in trouble... But, we do need to talk... Er, Dylan," Dolly said wanting him to start as she looked at her son and daughter sheepishly.

Junior just laid on the ground looking around awkwardly, still feeling a little embarrassed at what had happened.

Donna just looked up at the ceiling, no one in the room feeling particularly comfortable about this.

"Well, uh, you see..." Dylan said before taking a moment to think about how he wanted to say this, while he and Dolly had taken a lot of responsibilities growing up from their parents that they arguably shouldn't have needed to, this was never one of them "you see kids there comes a time when every young pup starts noticing some changes with their body, and it's a bit different for boys and girls..." he trailed off at that not sure what to say next.

"You see, Donna, you were saying how you felt hot and your privates were swollen. Well, girls about your age start going into a thing called heat... And this can normally be very uncomfortable until you get used to it... However, boys are different..." Dolly said and was wanting Dylan to explain that himself, but knew she could pick where he leaves off as the pups listened to her.

"But, what does heat do?" Donna asked, obviously wanting to hear more. She was shifting around and trying to sit still but it was obvious how she was feeling.

"It does a few things, Donna, number one is it makes you restless and a bit... 'needy' we'll say for now..." Dylan thought things over for a second and he knew he had to tell them the point of this sooner or later and continued with "Donna? Junior? before we go any further I have to ask, have you ever wondered where puppies come from?"

"I think you said from a bush... Or maybe that was something different... But yeah a little..." Donna said as she tried to think on that one.

"They just told me not to worry about it," Junior said as he continued looking away from everyone.

"Well, it's important now... So, you've seen me or your aunts pregnant right?" Dolly asked and they both nodded having definitely seen a pregnant adult before.

"Right so you see, think of a heat as a girl's body telling them that they not only can get pregnant but also really want to, but a girl can't get pregnant on her own," Dylan said trying to explain this the best he can.

"Yes, Junior, what did your body do when you saw Donna like that?" Dolly asked, not because she didn't know but wanted him to say it himself.

"Um, well I felt something becoming stiff... Er..." Junior said and was obviously very nervous about this.

"Junior, don't be embarrassed as that's a natural reaction... Since heat is meant to shall we say entice boys towards girls," Dolly said just wanting to keep things a bit simple for now.

"What your mother said Junior, you see that part that got stiff is called a penis, when it gets like that a liquid you probably haven't even heard of is able to come out called semen, or cum if you want to be less formal, that's what's used to get a girl pregnant," Dylan said as he felt like he was going to have a heart attack his heart was racing so fast but tried his best to look calm.

"Yes, and how it gets there is a vagina which is what Donna has and your penis goes in there but you two are too young for that still but anyway... Essentially, this is how girls get pregnant..." Dolly explained figuring they could know the basics for now and noticed the two seeming to understand.

"So, basically that's how we got here?" Donna and Junior said and were a bit squicked out from this, suddenly shifting from awkwardness to giggling.

"Yes, more or less but we should make sure you understand a few things before you can leave," Dolly said and took a deep breath, glad they were almost done at least.

"I just want to be clear, your heat isn't going to be an everyday thing, how long it lasts varies from person to person but it will go away sooner or later if you ignore it for long enough, and it will come back every three months or so," Dylan said just wanting to make sure they didn't have any misconceptions when they walked away from this.

"Yep and Donna some days will be worse than others and I won't sugarcoat that but I will tell you some safe ways to help put up with it. And you will need to stick with me and dad at least this time around, I don't want to scare you but I'll explain more later. Now, Junior, there are some things your dad will have to talk with you about as well," Dolly explained and just smiled at the two.

"Alright, mom... er... so is his penis the only way I'd get pregnant?" Donna asked and was at least getting it.

"Yes, only if it's in your vagina other than that you have nothing to worry about," Dolly said and tapped her paws together, wanting to get this over with.

"Yes, though I will tell you everything I need to when it's just the two of us," Dylan said looking at Junior trying his best not to make him feel nervous about this.

"Alright, Donna come with me and Junior stay here. I think both of you heard the basics at least to better understand what happened between you two," Dolly said and led Donna out to talk with her privately.

"Alright, mom," Junior said and just waited for his sister and mom to go so Dylan could talk with him. "I can't go through heat, right?" Junior asked cluelessly once his mom and sister had left, looking at his dad.

"No Junior, that's something only girls go through I promise," Dylan said sitting down next to his son "I know this is all confusing but as your father, I'm here to help you understand all of this best that I can, so ask me anything, I promise there's no such thing as a stupid question as long as the intention is to learn".

"Okay, um... But, wait... If only girls can be pregnant... They only get pregnant by a guy, what about my Aunts and Uncles who are... Not sure what the word is I'm looking for..." Junior said, trying to think about what he was asking.

"Oh, do you mean the ones who married someone of the same gender? like uncle Dante and uncle Delgado?" Dylan asked, managing to put two and two together of what he meant.

"Yeah, yeah, just wasn't sure how to put it. I have other questions but just wanted to ask this first," Junior said and nodded at that, glad his dad caught on.

Dylan nodded at that and thought for a second on how he wanted to explain this "Honestly Junior? I'm not too sure about the hows and whys of this myself, I try to be as knowledgeable as possible especially for your sake but I'm just one dog at the end of the day, but I can tell you that a girl that likes girls is called a lesbian, a boy that likes boys is called gay, someone who likes both is bi, and someone who doesn't like either is ace, while these aren't as common as a boy and a girl liking each other there's nothing wrong with this and for the most part they're born that way same as you being born a dalmatian".

"Oh, I'll ask more about that later I think but first... So, when I did see everything and right before grandma came in, I had this really strong urge to hop on her and I think I almost did... Is that normal?" Junior said, more concerned with the situation now but glad his dad cleared that up.

"Well... that is what you're supposed to do if you two wanted to have puppies but you're both way too young for that and even if you weren't you should only do that with someone really special," Dylan said dancing around the fact that incest is taboo "I know that a girls heat makes it hard for both the girl and whatever boy may be around to resist doing this but please promise me you'll try to not give in to this until you know for sure the girl you want to do this with is someone you want to spend the rest of your life with like me and your mother, having puppies is suppose to be a good thing but if you aren't prepared for it you could very easily ruin their life".

"So, resist that urge got it... Anything I can do to deal with it?" Junior said, everything still fresh on his mind.

"Well, there is one thing..." Dylan said as he thought back to what helped him deal with it back when he was still living with his parents when Dolly was in heat and couldn't believe he was about to tell Junior this "back when I was your age something that helped me was letting that urge out another way when I had some privacy".

"Like touching yourself? The other day I noticed I felt good when it was like that and..." Junior started and was trailing off a bit, a bit surprised he admitted to this himself.

Dylan did his best to hide his shock and said "more or less Junior, whenever you feel this urge come on, or if you just want to feel that pleasure, find somewhere you can be alone for a while and once your penis comes out and grab it with your paw with a good grip and move it up and down, from there you'll figure it out, though semen will come out when you're done so you will need to be prepared somehow as to not make a mess".

"Okay... So, other than that... Er, how do you know if your gay or not?" Junior asked, figuring he'd get back to this subject as he was a bit more curious on that subject.

"Well, the fact that you almost had puppies with Donna before your grandmother found you is a good way to tell you aren't gay, to say the least," Dylan said laughing a bit "someone who is gay wouldn't have felt the urge to get on top of her like you did or even have gotten stiff, instead they would have felt those things for another boy, or have wanted them to do that to them instead".

"Ah, alright... Hmm, though I have found boys cute looking before... So maybe I'm bi, but I'm sorry for almost doing that with Donna..." Junior said and nuzzled Dylan's neck, feeling a bit bad about it.

"It's alright Junior, me and your mother probably should have realized it was time to sit down with you and talk about this a while ago," Dylan said as he nuzzled him back "and alright Junior, I'm actually bi as well believe it or not, but either way you have time to figure it out for sure so don't be afraid to tell me if one way or another alright?"

"Thanks, dad, and I think that's all I can think to ask for now," Junior said and hugged Dylan, waiting for his dad to give him the okay to go.

Dylan hugged him back for a moment before letting go and standing up "alright son, remember you can always ask me anything so if you think of anything else to ask come to me right away, for now, you can run along".

"Okay, so I'm not in trouble right?" Junior said once he was at the door, looking to Dylan like he wanted to make sure.

"No you aren't son, you didn't know any better and that's on me and your mother" Dylan said with a laugh.

"Alright, I want to go cuddle with grandma," Junior said and hopped out the door to find Delilah, glad that was over and unaware his dad was as well.

Dylan let out a deep breath and laid down as he waited for Dolly to come back.

Dolly entered soon enough, having told Donna to go ahead back to Delilah. "That was quite the near-miss..." Dolly said as she laid down beside Dylan.

"Yeah no kidding, how'd it go with Donna after you left?" Dylan said and gave her a nuzzle.

"Pretty well, I think she understood everything. How did it go with our son?" Dolly asked, nuzzling Dylan back and just wanting to rest a bit after that.

"It went well with him as well, I think he understands everything well enough too, though he did ask about some of his aunts and uncles that were less than straight" Dylan said with a laugh "I ended up giving him a simplified explanation of sexuality and he told me he thinks he might be bi".

"I see, Donna didn't seem to acknowledge it but probably just was more concerned about it right now. As far as him possibly being bi, the good news is he has nothing to worry about," Dolly said as she thought it over and was sure Dylan let him know that.

"Yeah that's for sure, it's sad to say how many parents would freak out if their kid told them that but he knows he has nothing to fear from us on that matter, and I did kind of tell him he shouldn't say for sure yet but once he does figure it out to let me know," Dylan said with a yawn and closed his eyes.

"I think that's good, it's one of those things you want to make sure of and even if we did freak out I think several relatives would waste no time calling us out on it. One of them being just downstairs at the moment," Dolly said with a giggle but knew it was a serious thing and her and Dylan would be massive hypocrites to not support their son or any kids for that matter.

"Oh I know trust me, I was just referring to other families we've heard about here and there, I wouldn't dream of doing something like that even without the rest of the family giving us hell for it," Dylan said chuckling to himself at that, "I think I'll take a nap, for now, I don't think mom will mind watching the kids for a bit longer, as I don't think she'll want to get out in the rain just yet anyway".

"Yeah, I know. And sounds good, we both knew this was going to happen eventually but still feels exhausting," Dolly said and closed her eyes, wanting to nap after today as the mental exhaustion was catching up with her.

"Yeah tell me about it," Dylan said as he kissed Dolly, and just like that he was out like a light feeling much of the same as Dolly.

Dolly wasn't far behind him, more than ready for a nap after today.


End file.
